Psychological Evaluation of Patients Referred With Diagnosis of Psychogenic Tinnitus to Psychiatry Out Patient Department in Tertiary Care Hospital of North India

Introduction- Tinnitus is perceived as a continuous buzzing, hissing or ringing in the ears and in some cases in head. One of common cause of subjective tinnitus is psychogenic. The high prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients of tinnitus warrants a review of literature to shed light on the link between these diseases. Despite theoretical suggestions of a link between stress and tinnitus, this notion has received little empirical support. We conducted this study with aim to find out the psychological factors in patients suffering from psychogenic tinnitus.\r\nMethodology- Fifty patients with diagnosis of psychogenic tinnitus referred to psychiatry outpatient department underwent detailed psychiatric evaluation by a consultant psychiatrist. Psychiatric diagnoses were considered as per ICD-10 DCR criteria. Hamilton Depression rating scale (HAM-D) was used to assess Depressive symptoms and Hamilton Anxiety Rating scale (HAM-A) was used to asses anxiety symptoms. Perceived Stress scale (PSS) was used to assess the perception of stress. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used asses the severity of Tinnitus. The statistical analyses were conducted using Statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS version 16) software.\r\nResults- Majority of patients reported difficulty in falling asleep (28%), Dizziness was reported by 20% of patients , 20% reported Headache, 16% reported Irritability, 8% reported difficulty in concentrating due to tinnitus, 3% patients were fearful about their illness. Most common psychiatric diagnosis in our study was anxiety disorders (18%), followed by Depressive disorder (14%). 3 (6%) Tinnitus patients also suffered from Somatoform Disorders. Correlation analysis showed significant correlation between visual analog scale annoyance, coping, distress, loudness scores and perceived stress scores\r\nConclusion- This study has revealed significant psychological stress and psychiatric comorbidity associated with psychogenic tinnitus patients. Stress can be particularly related to aetiology as well as morbidity of psychogenic tinnitus.