Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of depression and its intensity in patients with diagnosed tinnitus and their correlation with selected audiological parameters.
Material and methods: 80 patients underwent the study, including 46 females (57.5%) and 34 males (42.5%) aged 20-84 suffering from tinnitus. The study methodology included: an interview, otorhinolaryngological examination, full audiological diagnostics and imaging test (CT or MR). Patients who qualified for the study completed a modified questionnaire according to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). THE STUDY RESULTS: The study found the depression level higher than the one in the general population and amounting to 45%, with 41.2% of the patients suffering from masked depression (a mean rating scale of 14-16), and 3.7% of the patients showing symptoms of moderate depression (27 points according to the rating scale). The own studies showed no statistically meaningful relation between intensification of depression in the studied patients and their age and sex as well as acoustic parameters such as frequency, tinnitus localization. However, a statistically variable relation was noted showing that the longer a patient suffered from tinnitus the more often depression occurred.
Conclusions: The occurrence of depression among the studied patients with tinnitus is higher than in the Polish population. In the conducted studies dominated depression of mild intensity. It was affirmed that depression occurred more often in patients with tinnitus lasting longer than 5 years.