717
Views
26
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

The role of catastrophizing in recent onset tinnitus: Its nature and association with tinnitus distress and medical utilization

, , , , , & show all
Pages 177-188 | Received 28 Sep 2011, Accepted 19 Nov 2012, Published online: 09 Jan 2013
 

Abstract

Objective: Persistent tinnitus affects 10 to 15% of adults. Little is understood about why only a small percentage of patients become severely affected. Catastrophic thinking has been suggested as one potentially relevant factor that might influence a patient's coping behavior, and thus tinnitus habituation. The current study investigates the concept of tinnitus catastrophizing and its relation with distress and medical utilization in recent onset tinnitus. Design: Participants were administered a survey assessing catastrophizing, tinnitus distress, medical utilization, coping, and mood disturbance. Regression analyses investigated the nature of tinnitus catastrophizing and its contributions to distress and health care utilization. Study sample: 278 subjects with tinnitus for less than six months were recruited from Ear-Nose-Throat units, through the internet, and newspaper articles. Results: Controlling for background variables, high subjective tinnitus loudness, low behavioral coping, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated with tinnitus catastrophizing. Furthermore, greater tinnitus catastrophizing was related to higher distress and more frequent medical visits. Conclusions: Tinnitus catastrophizing appears to be pivotal already at an early stage of tinnitus experience. Addressing catastrophizing by specific prevention and intervention programs might reduce the development of distress and medical utilization in the long term. Longitudinal studies are required to clarify cause-effect relations.

Declaration of interest: The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

The study was funded by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; 01GX0732). The preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by a grant from the Swedish Research Council (HEAD Linnaeus grant).

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 194.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.