RESUMEN
Objective To study the correlation between cognitive distress and tinnitus related handicaps.Methods One hundred and ninety-two primary tinnitus subjects ninety-nine males and ninety-three females were included in this study.The average age was 45±15.52 years old.The average durations of tinnitus for male and female were 25.67±37.71 months and 27.12±45.42 months, respectively.The patients were asked to fill the Mandarin tinnitus questionnaire (MTQ) and Mandarin (Chinese) tinnitus handicap inventory (THI-CM).The correlation between cognitive distress (CD) and tinnitus related handicap was studied.Results The average score of MTQ was 36.95±20.06.The average score of CD (Q17,18,23,41, and 42)was 2.61.The average score of question 17,18, 23,41, and 42 of MTQ was 2.81,2.63,2.59,2.40, and 2.41,respectively.The average score of THI-CM was 23.89±20.06.The correlation between CD and THI-CM was 0.64(P0.01),respectively.The correlations between CD and THI-CM among the nondisabled, mild, moderate and severe groups according to the scores of THI-CM were 0.30(P0.01),-0.12(P>0.01), and 0.23(P>0.01),respectively.Conclusion No strong correlation was demonstrated between the CD and the THI-CM.The same results were shown for males and female.No correlation was demonstrated between ages and cognitive distress.Correlation coefficient of cognitive distress was increased with age.The tinnitus handicaps of patients might be vulnerable to cognitive distress with ageing.