Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Jacquemin, Laure
• Cardon, Emilie
• Michiels, Sarah
• Luyten, Tine
• Van der Wal, Annemarie
• De Hertogh, Willem
• Vanderveken, Olivier M.
• Van de Heyning, Paul
• Lammers, Marc J. W.
• Van Rompaey, Vincent
• Gilles, Annick

Titel

Hyperacusis: demographic, audiological, and clinical characteristics of patients at the ENT department

Ist Teil von

• European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology, 2022-10, Vol.279 (10), p.4899-4907

Ort / Verlag

Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Purpose To document whether patients with and without hyperacusis differ from each other on demographic, audiological, and clinical characteristics. Methods Based on the Hyperacusis Questionnaire’s (HQ) cut-off (HQ > 28), a total of 2301 participants were divided into patients with and without hyperacusis. Demographic data, scores on self-reported questionnaires [Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI), Visual Analogue Scale of tinnitus loudness (VAS loudness ), Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS)], and audiological parameters were retrospectively analysed to determine differential factors between the two groups. Results In total, 10.9% of the patients was classified as hyperacusis patients ( n  = 251). They reported a significant, higher tinnitus severity (mean difference of 19 points on TFI) and mental distress (mean difference of 4 points on the HADS subscales) ( p  < 0.001) than patients without hyperacusis. Moreover, this group consisted of more women (45% % in hyperacusis group vs. 35% in non-hyperacusis group) and women scored significantly higher on the HQ ( p  < 0.001) and TFI ( p  < 0.01). Conclusion Patients with hyperacusis have distinctive characteristics. The presence of hyperacusis in combination with tinnitus can indicate a higher need for psychoeducation. Patients that present themselves with hyperacusis without tinnitus complaints remain a minority, yet might be underdiagnosed. Hence, future studies should disentangle tinnitus from hyperacusis. In clinical practice, greater efforts are required to increase knowledge about hyperacusis as a primary or secondary complaint and to provide individualized treatment for these patients.