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Mental Fatigue in Patients with Hearing Loss and/or Tinnitus Undergoing Audiological Rehabilitation-A Pilot Study
Satu Turunen-Taheri1,2,3, Per-Inge Carlsson4,5, Elisabeth Ternevall2
1Department of CLINTEC, Division of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, Karolinska Institutet, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.
Background:
Both tinnitus and hearing loss are multidimensional. The purpose of this study was to identify and determine the degree of mental fatigue in patients with hearing loss and/or tinnitus participating in audiological rehabilitation, and to examine the self-reported mental fatigue scale (MFS) in this patient group.
Methods:
Patients undergoing audiological rehabilitation at the Department of Audiology and Neurotology, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden, between 2011 and 2017 who completed a self-reported MFS questionnaire were investigated. Data on 76 patients were analysed in this pilot study. Patients were also assessed using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI).
Results:
The study population had an age range of 38-65 years, and most had normal hearing (37%) or mild to moderate hearing loss (46%). Only 17% had severe to profound hearing loss. A total of 56.5% had tinnitus, of whom 39.5% scored ≥57 on the THI, indicating severe tinnitus, whereas 43.5% reported no tinnitus. The MFS scores, ranging from 13 to 42.5 points, were divided into three severity levels for analysis: 10.5-15, 15.5-20, and ≥20.5. In total, 67% of the patients had MFS scores ≥ 20.5. Importantly, most of the participants (90%) with a THI score ≥ 57 belonged to that group. A significant positive correlation between a high MFS score and severe tinnitus was found.
Conclusions:
The study reveals that severe mental fatigue is more common in patients with severe tinnitus than sole hearing loss.
