The study was carried out to determine the impact of some co-morbid otological symptoms and demographic factors on the emotional distress and cognitive functioning in patients with
tinnitus. One hundred consecutive patients, complaining of constant idiopathic
tinnitus, were enrolled into the study. Four tests were administered: Beck Depression Inventory, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (
HADS, A--anxiety, D--depression), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Trail Making Test (TMT). A multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis was performed to estimate the relationship between the results of each of the tests and following co-morbid factors: age, sex,
tinnitus duration,
tinnitus laterality, hearing status (normal hearing,
unilateral hearing loss and
bilateral hearing loss) and
vertigo/
dizziness. It was found that the scores of MMSE and TMT were negatively correlated with age and with hearing status and the scores of
HADS-A were slightly correlated with sex. In regression analysis, in
HADS-A, sex and to a lesser extent
tinnitus duration, in MMSE and TMT age and to a lesser extent
tinnitus laterality were the variables that were comprised in the final model. Demographic factors had contributed more than overlapping otological symptoms to the psychological outcome in
tinnitus patients.