Malesci Rita, Brigato Francesca, Di Cesare Tiziana, Del Vecchio Valeria, Laria Carla, De Corso Eugenio, Fetoni Anna Rita
Audiology Section, Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry Department, "Federico II" University, via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy.
J Clin Med. 2021 Apr 27;10(9):1881. doi: 10.3390/jcm10091881.
Tinnitus is a common and disabling symptom often associated with hearing loss. While clinical practice frequently shows that a certain degree of psychological discomfort often characterizes tinnitus suffers, it has been recently suggested in adults as a determining factor for cognitive decline affecting attention and memory domains. The aim of our systematic review was to provide evidence for a link between tinnitus, psychological distress, and cognitive dysfunction in older patients and to focus on putative mechanisms of this relationship.
We performed a systematic review, finally including 192 articles that were screened. This resulted in 12 manuscripts of which the full texts were included in a qualitative analysis.
The association between tinnitus and psychological distress, mainly depression, has been demonstrated in older patients, although only few studies addressed the aged population. Limited studies on cognitive dysfunction in aged patients affected by chronic tinnitus are hardly comparable, as they use different methods to validate cognitive impairment. Actual evidence does not allow us with certainty to establish if tinnitus matters as an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment or evolution to dementia.
Tinnitus, which is usually associated with age-related hearing loss, might negatively affect emotional wellbeing and cognitive capacities in older people, but further studies are required to improve the evidence.
耳鸣是一种常见且使人致残的症状，常与听力损失相关。虽然临床实践经常表明，一定程度的心理不适往往是耳鸣患者的特征，但最近在成年人中有人提出，耳鸣是影响注意力和记忆领域的认知衰退的一个决定性因素。我们进行系统综述的目的是为老年患者耳鸣、心理困扰和认知功能障碍之间的联系提供证据，并关注这种关系的潜在机制。
我们进行了一项系统综述，最终筛选了192篇文章。这产生了12篇手稿，其全文被纳入定性分析。
耳鸣与心理困扰（主要是抑郁）之间的关联在老年患者中已得到证实，尽管只有少数研究涉及老年人群。关于受慢性耳鸣影响的老年患者认知功能障碍的研究有限，难以进行比较，因为它们使用不同的方法来验证认知障碍。现有证据无法让我们确定耳鸣是否作为认知障碍或发展为痴呆的独立危险因素。
通常与年龄相关听力损失相关的耳鸣，可能会对老年人的情绪健康和认知能力产生负面影响，但需要进一步研究来完善证据。
