Prevalence of Self-reported Depression Symptoms and Anxiety among Community-Dwelling US Adults Reporting Tinnitus

Reavis KM, Henry JA, Marshall LM, Carlson KF. Prevalence of Self-reported Depression Symptoms and Anxiety among Community-Dwelling US Adults Reporting Tinnitus. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. 2020 Aug 17; 5(4):DOI: 10.1044/2020_PERSP-19-00178.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between tinnitus and self-reportedmental health distress, namely, depression symptoms and perceived anxiety, in adultswho participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examinations Survey between2009 and 2012. A secondary aim was to determine if a history of serving in the militarymodified the associations between tinnitus and mental health distress. Method This was a cross-sectional study design of a national data set that included 5,550U.S. community-dwelling adults ages 20 years and older, 12.7% of whom were militaryVeterans. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate theassociation between tinnitus and mental health distress. All measures were based onself-report. Tinnitus and perceived anxiety were each assessed using a single question.Depression symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire, a validatedquestionnaire. Multivariable regression models were adjusted for key demographic andhealth factors, including self-reported hearing ability. Results Prevalence of tinnitus was 15%. Compared to adults without tinnitus, adults with tinnitushad a 1.8-fold increase in depression symptoms and a 1.5-fold increase in perceivedanxiety after adjusting for potential confounders. Military Veteran status did notmodify these observed associations. Conclusions Findings revealed an association between tinnitus and both depression symptoms andperceived anxiety, independent of potential confounders, among both Veterans and non-Veterans.These results suggest, on a population level, that individuals with tinnitus havea greater burden of perceived mental health distress and may benefit from interdisciplinaryhealth care, self-help, and community-based interventions.