Abstract
Previous studies have shown that personality traits are related to tinnitus distress as measured by the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ). However, little is known about the role of personality on tinnitus distress over time. We collected the THI and the TQ of 388 patients who visited a tertiary tinnitus clinic between 2012 and 2017, and who filled in a survey with the same questionnaires plus the Big Five Index 2 in 2018. We used personality traits and facets to predict tinnitus distress cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, age and gender were significant predictors of the THI and TQ scores in cross-sectional linear regression setups. Next, based on previous literature, we clustered patients in three groups based in the difference THI and TQ between the two assessments: “clinically improved”, “clinically stable” and “clinically worsened”. The patients in the “clinically improved” and “clinically stable” groups scored statistically significantly lower in neuroticism and higher in extraversion than patients in the group “clinically worsened”. Our results suggest that personality is associated with tinnitus distress over time and could be used to statistically distinguish patient groups with clinically relevant changes of tinnitus distress.
Highlights
Tinnitus is a condition characterized by the subjective perception of sounds without an external source1 that affects between 10 and 15% of the population in western societies2
The model with the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) as dependent variable had 5% of the variance explained by the predictors (R2 = 0.046, F(8,325) = 3.05, p < 0.01), whereas the model with the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ) as the dependent variable had 5% of the variance explained (R2 = 0.048, F(6,331) = 3.14, p = 0.001)
We showed that neuroticism is related to changes in tinnitus distress, i.e., clinically relevant changes in the grade of tinnitus distress as measured by TQ and THI
Summary
Tinnitus is a condition characterized by the subjective perception of sounds without an external source that affects between 10 and 15% of the population in western societies. There is no treatment available to reliably and effectively suppress the phantom perception in chronic (i.e., lasting more than six months), idiopathic presentation of tinnitus In those cases, treatment focus on the condition’s management, but response to treatments vary considerably across patients. Some questions remain unanswered: It is yet not clear if the effects of personality can predict tinnitus-related distress over time, disregard of whether a patient tried any type of treatment or not. It is unclear whether personality mediates the outcome of psychological-based interventions or, in general, mediates all kinds of tinnitus-related interventions. In the study at hand, we aimed at [1] replicating the previous results obtained by Langguth and colleagues, but with a larger sample size; [2] investigating which facets of relevant personality traits account for tinnitus distress; [3] investigating the role of personality traits on tinnitus distress over time; and, of central interest, [4] evaluating whether such traits may be of clinically relevance to the treatment response
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
