Psychological factors and long-term tinnitus handicap in vestibular schwannoma patients after retrosigmoid microsurgery – a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the connection between psychological factors and postoperative tinnitus in vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients following retrosigmoid microsurgery.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Study sample

Ninety-three VS patients participated, completing questionnaires on demographics, tinnitus severity (THI-12), personality traits (TIPI-G), dizziness impact (DHI), perceived health benefits (GBI), somatisation tendencies (SOMS-2), and psychological distress (HADS-D). Our analysis involved Mann-Whitney U-tests, Spearman’s rank-order correlations, and false discovery rate correction.

Results

Most participants reported postoperative tinnitus (77/93), with 41 experiencing it preoperatively. Emotional stability correlated negatively with tinnitus presence, while tinnitus severity was associated with emotional distress. Preoperative somatisation tendencies were also positively linked to tinnitus severity. Postoperative Tinnitus was further linked to reduced perceived health benefits and increased anxiety and depression levels. Notably, age and gender showed no significant associations.

Conclusion

This study uncovers the interplay between postoperative tinnitus and psychological factors in VS patients, highlighting emotional and cognitive dimensions. Tailored psychological interventions addressing tinnitus‘s psychosomatic impact may enhance patients quality of life.

Keywords:

• Vestibular schwannoma
• tinnitus
• dizziness
• microsurgery
• personality
• psychological factors

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support provided by Vereinigung Akustikusneurinom e.V.

Ethical approval

All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of University Hospital Halle (No. 2020-008).

Informed consent statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy reasons.

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge financial support from the Open Access Publication Fund of UKE - Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf and DFG – German Research Foundation.