Effects of Anxiety Sensitivity and Hearing Loss on Tinnitus Symptom Severity

Objective The aim of the present study was to examine the relative role of anxiety sensitivity and hearing loss on the tinnitus symptoms severity in a large clinical sample of patients with tinnitus. Methods A total of 1,705 patients with tinnitus who visited the tinnitus clinic underwent the pure-tone audiometric testing and a battery of self-report questionnaires. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify the relationship of anxiety sensitivity and hearing loss to tinnitus symptoms severity. Results Both anxiety sensitivity and hearing loss were a significant association with of annoyance (anxiety sensitivity β=0.11, p=0.010; hearing loss β=0.09, p=0.005) and THI score (anxiety sensitivity β=0.21, p<0.001; hearing loss β=0.10, p<0.001) after adjusting for confounding factors. Meanwhile, the awareness time (β=0.19, p<0.001) and loudness (β=0.11, p<0.001) of tinnitus was associated with only the hearing loss but not with anxiety sensitivity. Conclusion Our results indicate that both hearing loss and anxiety sensitivity were associated with increased tinnitus symptom severity. Furthermore, these associations could be different according to the characteristics of tinnitus symptoms.