How severely a person experiences tinnitus is shaped by their mood, sleep quality and even personality traits, a new study has found.
Tinnitus is a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears that affects roughly 14 per cent of adults worldwide. It is known to be linked to hearing loss and to affect people differently.
In order to gain a better understanding of impacts on individuals, McGill University researchers, in collaboration with colleagues at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, developed a predictive model.
"Some aren't bothered by tinnitus at all, while others are deeply invalidated. This model helps forecast whose symptoms are likely to worsen, offering a chance to intervene earlier," said senior author Etienne Vachon-Presseau, a member of McGill's Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain and an associate professor in the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences.
The study, published in Nature Communications, analyzed health and behavioural data of around two hundred thousand people, using AI models to find patterns.
Testing the model on a separate group of patients confirmed the most telling indicators of developing severe tinnitus are trouble sleeping through the night, frequent fatigue, low mood and high levels of neuroticism.
Hearing loss was shown to be the strongest predictor of who develops the percept, but its severity was more closely tied to psychological and behavioural traits. The researchers explained this finding by noting that, much like pain, tinnitus is a subjective experience.
"That means how much the percept bothers someone depends not only on what's happening in the body, but also on how the brain processes and reacts to it. That is shaped in part by personal factors" said Vachon-Presseau.
About the study
"Tinnitus risk factors and its evolution over time" by Lise Hobeika and Etienne Vachon-Presseau et al. was published in Nature Communications.
The study was supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
