Predictive factors for the severity of tinnitus.

Abstract

The majority of patients with tinnitus experience a lessening of their symptoms during an 18-month period after their first consultation. The exception to this rule is severe incapacitating tinnitus, the sometimes very troublesome symptoms of which show no sign of diminishing with time. The aim of the present study was to investigate risk factors for incapacitating tinnitus, as measured by absence from work related to tinnitus (AWT) of more than 1 month during an 18-month period after the first visit to the tinnitus clinic. Audiometric data and the scores from the Tinnitus Severity Questionnaire and the Nottingham Health Profile at the first visit to the clinic were correlated to AWT by a logistic regression model. By using this risk model, an individual risk score for AWT could be estimated. Depression and physical immobility were strong predictors of AWT, and hearing loss was moderate. Based on these results, we suggest that the aetiology of tinnitus severity could be described as depression-/anxiety-related, somatic, and auditory tinnitus.