Tinnitus and Mental Distress (Reavis et al., 2020)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine therelationship between tinnitus and self-reported mental healthdistress, namely, depression symptoms and perceivedanxiety, in adults who participated in the National Healthand Nutrition Examinations Survey between 2009 and2012. A secondary aim was to determine if a history ofserving in the military modified the associations betweentinnitus and mental health distress.Method: This was a cross-sectional study design of anational data set that included 5,550 U.S. community-dwelling adults ages 20 years and older, 12.7% of whomwere military Veterans. Bivariable and multivariable logisticregression was used to estimate the association betweentinnitus and mental health distress. All measures werebased on self-report. Tinnitus and perceived anxiety wereeach assessed using a single question. Depression symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire, a validated questionnaire. Multivariable regression models were adjusted for key demographic and health factors, including self-reported hearing ability.Results: Prevalence of tinnitus was 15%. Compared toadults without tinnitus, adults with tinnitus had a 1.8-foldincrease in depression symptoms and a 1.5-fold increase inperceived anxiety after adjusting for potential confounders.Military Veteran status did not modify these observedassociations.Conclusions: Findings revealed an association betweentinnitus and both depression symptoms and perceivedanxiety, independent of potential confounders, among bothVeterans and non-Veterans. These results suggest, on apopulation level, that individuals with tinnitus have a greaterburden of perceived mental health distress and may benefitfrom interdisciplinary health care, self-help, and community-based interventions.
Reavis, K. M., Henry J. A., Marshall, L. M., & Carlson, K. F. (2020). Prevalence of self-reported depressionsymptoms and perceived anxiety among community-dwelling U.S. adults reporting tinnitus. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_PERSP-19-00178