Abstract
Background:Emotional stress is frequently associated with otologic symptoms as tinnitus and dizziness. Stress can contribute to the beginning or worsening of tinnitus.Objective:The objective of the study is to evaluate the presence of stress symptoms in patients with chronic, subjective tinnitus, and correlate its presence to annoyance associated with tinnitus.Methods:This is a cross-sectional study. One hundred and eighty patients with chronic, subjective tinnitus were included. Patients answered the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) to evaluate the impact of tinnitus in the quality of life and answered the Lipp's inventory symptoms of stress for adults (ISSL). The data obtained was organized using Excel® 2010, mean values, linear regression and p-value were calculated.Results:Of the 180 patients included in the study, 117 (65%) had stress symptoms, 52 of the 117 (44%) were in the resistance phase and 23 of the 117 (20%) in the exhaustion phase, the remaining was in the alert phase. There was a clear progressive increase in stress as THI raised, with more impact of tinnitus in quality of life.Conclusion:The presence of stress symptoms, measured by ISSL was observed in most of our patients with chronic subjective tinnitus, specially in the resistance and exhaustion phases and it is directly associated with tinnitus annoyance.
Highlights
Stress is defined as the result of psychological and physical conditions that threaten the normal functioning of ones1745-0179/18 2018 Bentham OpenClinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 2018, Volume 14 265 body [1]
Stress is many times attributed as a cause of tinnitus and we often see in the clinic that patients complain that their tinnitus gets worse after stressful situations
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the presence of stress symptoms in patients with chronic, subjective tinnitus, using the Lipp's inventory of symptoms of stress for adults (ISSL), as well as to correlate its presence to the annoyance associated to tinnitus, applying the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI)
Summary
Stress is defined as the result of psychological and physical conditions that threaten the normal functioning of ones1745-0179/18 2018 Bentham OpenClinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 2018, Volume 14 265 body [1]. Tinnitus is commonly caused by auditory system damages, the role of emotional and psychological factors inducing and maintaining annoyance has been proven in recent tinnitus studies [3]. The evidence that stress is related to tinnitus is based on studies that show high psychiatric comorbidity related to the symptom. About 10– 60% of chronic tinnitus patients suffer from depressive disorders and 28–45% present with clinically relevant anxiety symptoms [4, 5]. It has been frequently observed that many tinnitus patients present with psychological or psychiatric distress before or during the onset and evolution of tinnitus [6]. Some studies that have used stress questionnaires in tinnitus patients found a high prevalence of selfreported levels of stress. Emotional stress is frequently associated with otologic symptoms as tinnitus and dizziness. Stress can contribute to the beginning or worsening of tinnitus
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