The mediating role of tinnitus perception between hearing impairment and development of psychological problems in male and female tinnitus patients

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of psychological problems (stress, anxiety, depression) between hearing impairment (HI) and tinnitus in tinnitus patients. Sample comprised of 110 patients (male, n =70; female, n =40). Design/methodology/approach The purposive sampling technique was used based on correlational design. Two scales, tinnitus handicap inventory developed by Newman et al. (1996), and depression, anxiety and stress scale developed by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995), were employed to assess tinnitus, anxiety, stress and depression among tinnitus patients. Findings The study revealed that tinnitus was positively significant correlated with depression ( r =0.55, p <0.001), anxiety ( r =0.63, p <0.001), stress ( r =0.54, p <0.001) and hearing loss ( r =0.81, p <0.001). The results also revealed that hearing loss was positively significant predictor for tinnitus ( β =20.72, p <0.001). Further, it was revealed that tinnitus was positively significant predicted by anxiety ( β =2.62, p <0.001), stress ( β =2.33, p <0.001) and depression ( β =2.71, p <0.001); the interaction between psychological symptoms and hearing loss was negatively significant predictor for stress ( β =−0.51, p <0.001), anxiety ( β =−0.57, p <0.001) and depression ( β =−0.62, p <0.001). Moreover, it was revealed that female tinnitus patients were more predisposed to stress, anxiety and depression as compared to male tinnitus patients. Results also elaborated that those tinnitus patient who had profound HI were less inclined toward psychological problems as compared to those tinnitus patients who had mild to moderate level of HI. This study would be helpful for the clinical setting to tackle the psychological problems of tinnitus patients. Research limitations/implications This study consisted on population from urban cities of Pakistan; therefore, the findings cannot be generalized on overall population. In future, descriptive as well as experimental studies will be beneficial to describe the mechanism of tinnitus across gender in detail. Native tool for measuring gender-related problems would be effective in future as it integrates cultural aspects as well. Originality/value There is a consensus across researchers that tinnitus is one of the most important biological problem which initiates various other psychological problem (Minen et al. , 2014; Vogel et al. , 2014). Numerous studies have been conducted to find out the relationship of tinnitus with various psychological and biological factors (Boi et al. , 2012; Li et al. , 2014; Marciano et al. , 2003; McCormack et al. , 2015; Møller et al. , 2010; Udupi et al. , 2013; Zöger et al. , 2006).