Institute of Otolaryngology, Fondazione Policlinico Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Brain Behav. 2021 Aug;11(8):e02074. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2074. Epub 2021 Jul 21.
Tinnitus is a common symptom largely impactful on quality of life, especially in the elderly. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of self-administered screening tests to correlate the severity of subjective perception of tinnitus with emotional disorders and the overall cognitive status.
Patients aged ≥ 55 years with chronic tinnitus were recruited and submitted to a complete audiological evaluation; Tinnitus Handicap inventory (THI); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A and HADS-D) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Demographic and audiological features of patients with and without cognitive impairment (MMSE score cut-off of 24/30) were analyzed in order to reveal the relationship among tinnitus, emotional disorders, and cognitive dysfunction.
102 patients were recruited (mean age: 70.4 ± 9.6). THI score was directly related to HADS-A score (r = .63) HADS-D score (r = .66), whereas there was no relationship between tinnitus severity and MMSE (r = .13). CI and n-CI groups did not differ in the characteristics of tinnitus (p > .05), however, hearing threshold (p = .049) and anxious depressive traits measured with HADS-A (p = .044) and HADS-D (p = .016) were significantly higher in the group with cognitive impairment. Furthermore, age ≥ 75 years (p = .002, OR = 13.8), female sex (p = .032; OR = 6.5), severe hearing loss (p = .036; OR = 2.3), and anxiety (p = .029; OR = 9.2) resulted risk factors for CI. Therefore, in CI group MMSE score was inversely related to age (r = -.84).
Cognitive impairment and psychiatric discomfort should be considered in tinnitus patients, related to increasing age, female sex, and severe hearing loss. Thus, self-administered questionnaires can be useful in addressing clinical approach.
耳鸣是一种常见症状，对生活质量影响很大，尤其是在老年人中。我们的目的是评估自我管理的筛查测试的功效，以将耳鸣的主观感知严重程度与情绪障碍和整体认知状态相关联。
招募年龄≥55 岁的慢性耳鸣患者，并进行全面的听力学评估；耳鸣残疾量表（THI）；医院焦虑和抑郁量表（HADS-A 和 HADS-D）和简易精神状态检查（MMSE）。分析有和无认知障碍（MMSE 评分 24/30 分界值）患者的人口统计学和听力学特征，以揭示耳鸣、情绪障碍和认知功能障碍之间的关系。
共招募了 102 名患者（平均年龄：70.4±9.6）。THI 评分与 HADS-A 评分（r=.63）和 HADS-D 评分（r=.66）直接相关，而耳鸣严重程度与 MMSE 之间无相关性（r=.13）。CI 和 n-CI 组在耳鸣特征方面无差异（p>.05），然而，认知障碍组的听力阈值（p=.049）和 HADS-A（p=.044）和 HADS-D（p=.016）测量的焦虑抑郁特征明显更高。此外，年龄≥75 岁（p=.002，OR=13.8）、女性（p=.032；OR=6.5）、严重听力损失（p=.036；OR=2.3）和焦虑（p=.029；OR=9.2）是认知障碍的危险因素。因此，在 CI 组中，MMSE 评分与年龄呈负相关（r=-.84）。
认知障碍和精神不适应在耳鸣患者中考虑，与年龄增长、女性和严重听力损失有关。因此，自我管理问卷在解决临床方法时可能有用。
