[Psychological stress and impaired quality of life in patients with tinnitus]

The majority of patients with chronic decompensated forms of tinnitus have comorbid psychological disorders, possibly accompanied by restricted quality of life and participation in everyday activities. There is no standardized tool to measure these clinically relevant dimensions.

Both the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) were administered to a consecutive sample of patients ( n=110) who were recruited from the tinnitus outpatient service in the department of psychiatry and psychotherapy. Using the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TF), associations of the HADS and SF-36 scales with tinnitus grading were determined and the classification of patients (mild-medium-severe-very severe) was evaluated.

A severe tinnitus grading is correlated to a high extent of anxiety and depression and a low quality of life. With the exception of the SF-36 subscale on physical functioning, all scales discriminated between the extreme groups (mild vs severe/very severe), but less between the two medium groups.

Patients with severe decompensated tinnitus (grades III and IV) should be seen for diagnosis of psychiatric comorbidity and supportive psychotherapy/psychopharmacotherapy used when necessary.