10% of Women Who Suffer Constant Ringing in Their Ears Attempt Suicide, Study Suggests

[Zugzug]

Sex Differences in the Response to Different Tinnitus Treatment

Introduction: Tinnitus is a complex symptom requiring a thorough multidisciplinary assessment to construct an individual's tinnitus profile. The Antwerp University Hospital hosts a tertiary tinnitus clinic providing intensive, multidisciplinary tinnitus care in the form of combinational psychological treatment with either Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or TRT/eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS), and physical therapy treatment (in cases of somatic influence of the neck or the temporomandibular area). Several factors may contribute to therapy effect of which the role of gender has recently gained more interest. As such, the current manuscript explores gender differences in the outcome of different tinnitus treatments.

Methods: Data on treatment outcome of four distinct tinnitus treatments (1. HD-tDCS; 2. orofacial physical therapy; 3. combination TRT + CBT; and 4. combination TRT + EMDR) were pooled and compared. Treatment outcome was assessed via the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI). Participants completed the TFI at baseline, immediately after treatment and after 9 weeks (±3 weeks) follow-up. To explore the effect of gender on different treatment outcomes, a linear mixed model was designed including Time point, Gender, and Therapy Group as fixed factors as well as all interactions between these factors.

Results: TFI scores improved significantly over time regardless of therapy group (p < 0.0001). A mean TFI decrease of at least 13 points was obtained by all participants except by those in the HD-tDCS. Significant interactions between Gender and Time point were identified in all groups except for the TRT +EMDR group. Female subjects improved more extensively than males in the HD-tDCS (p = 0.0009) and orofacial therapy group (p = 0.0299). Contrarily, in the TRT +CBT group, male participants showed a significant improvement whereas the mean TFI scores of female subjects remained on baseline levels (p = 0.0138).

Conclusion: Our data suggest that male and female tinnitus patients seem to react differently to different therapy options. We strongly encourage further prospective studies to discern the relevance of gender in therapy outcome.

Interesting stuff.

I very much wonder how the results would be impacted if they controlled for cause of tinnitus, as I would imagine different genders have slightly different risk profiles for getting tinnitus (and at different frequencies) based on personality, lifestyle, and occupation. For example, most dental hygienists are female and most construction workers are male. They may get tinnitus at different frequencies based on their work.

The study is really looking at improvement so it's sort of assuming the only thing that matters is TFI scores, independent of cause -- unless I'm misreading it.

 

[Autumnly]

Gender-Specific Differences in Patients With Chronic Tinnitus—Baseline Characteristics and Treatment Effects
Uli Niemann, Benjamin Boecking, Petra Brueggemann, Birgit Mazurek and Myra Spiliopoulou

 

[Frédéric]

Gender Comparison of Psychological Comorbidities in Tinnitus Patients – Results of a Cross-Sectional Study

Background: In the last decades, research focused on gender-related features in patients with tinnitus has often led to controversial results. The complex clinical picture of tinnitus patients often consists of an interdependent relationship between audiological symptoms and co-occurrent psychological disorders, which can complicate the diagnostic evaluation.

Methods: Therefore, we studied 107 patients with tinnitus, investigating their psychological comorbidities in the light of gender differences. All patients were evaluated with ENT/audiological and psychological examination to consider presence/absence, type and gender distribution of psychopathological comorbidities. Patients completed questionnaires on tinnitus distress (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, THI), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI), depression (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI), metacognition (Metacognition Questionnaire-30, MCQ-30) and worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire). The influence of gender on the relationship between tinnitus distress and psychological comorbidities was investigated with simple moderation analyses using the SPSS PROCESS macro.

Results: The total sample included 65 male and 42 female patients (60.7 vs. 39.3%), matched for age and duration of tinnitus. We found no significant differences for tinnitus distress (THI total score, THI subscales) and MCQ-30 subscales, except for the control over thoughts, where men showed significantly higher scores than women (p = 0.045). Also, in our sample women showed significantly higher values for depression (BDI total score, p = 0.019), anxiety (BAI total score, p = 0.010) and worries (PSQW total score, p = 0.015). Moderation analyses revealed a significant influence of gender on the relationship of tinnitus distress with depression: higher scores of tinnitus distress were associated with significantly elevated levels of depression amongst men. No further gender influences could be observed in our sample.

Discussion: In conclusion, our results indicate general gender differences for psychological comorbidities in tinnitus patients, with women reporting more depression, anxiety and worries. Men, on the other hand, showed a higher need to control their thoughts. Additionally, our results indicate that men might have more coping problems with increasing levels of tinnitus distress, leading to increased depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, several gender related aspects in tinnitus patients remain unclear, thus warranting the need future studies in this field.

Full article: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.00704/full

 

[Frédéric]

It is always the same dilemma. Is it useful or harmful to post this kind of publication?

I personally think it is useful to keep awareness of our torment, even if it has already been said, but it is up to the moderators.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the correlation between tinnitus and mental health

Conclusion:

A correlation is indicated between tinnitus and mental health. Therefore, it is critical to incorporate psychological interventions in tinnitus treatment and to implement a comprehensive treatment program.

Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors in Adults With Tinnitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Conclusion:

Nearly one in five people with tinnitus will experience suicidal ideation, and nearly 2% will attempt suicide. Thus, otolaryngologists should be mindful of the increased risk of suicidality in patients with tinnitus.

 

[Scruffiey]

It is always the same dilemma. Is it useful or harmful to post this kind of publication?

I personally think it is useful to keep awareness of our torment, even if it has already been said, but it is up to the moderators.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the correlation between tinnitus and mental health

Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors in Adults With Tinnitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

I mean, we all know this—it's not news to us, so I don't think it does any harm.

But I think it's more important for this kind of research to reach people who aren't aware of it. Raising awareness can help people understand that this is a far more serious condition than they realize and bring in funding for treatments.

I can count on one hand the number of news articles I've seen about tinnitus in my lifetime, and most of them treated it as something mildly distressing that people simply got used to—not as something that could completely upend my life.