title: The Emotional and Functional Impact of the Type of Tinnitus Sensation.
abstract: One to three percent of individuals with tinnitus experience significant reduction in quality of life. Factors that contribute to distress include personality variables, intolerance to loud noises, external locus of control, and pre-existing anxiety. Characteristics of tinnitus itself, such as perceived loudness, can also cause functional impairment. It is unknown whether different tinnitus sensations have various effects on either emotional or functional impairment, which can reduce quality of life. While audiological tests can determine pitch and loudness of tinnitus, questionnaires also can be easily used to assess subjective characteristics of tinnitus. In this study, 370 participants, recruited via email from a national tinnitus organization, completed online surveys that assessed tinnitus-related distress and provided qualitative descriptions of their tinnitus sensation. Self-reports of tinnitus sensation were rated by five independent coders, with excellent agreement. Individuals who reported a combination of tinnitus sensations were found to experience significantly more functional impairment and avoidant behavior. Future research should utilize more sophisticated approaches to categorize individuals' tinnitus sensation and to examine associated emotional and functional differences. Providers should appropriately refer patients for tinnitus management and empirically-supported therapies aimed at reducing tinnitus related distress and functional impairment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7550 IH 10 West, Suite 1325, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA. moringJ@uthscsa.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moring
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.affiliation: Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.
authors.forename: Jenifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7550 IH 10 West, Suite 1325, San Antonio, TX, 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bira
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Avoidant behavior; Emotional distress; Impairment; Tinnitus; Type of tinnitus sensation