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STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuro-Otology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1376826

Examining the Overlap Between Tinnitus and Depression Questionnaires - Protocol for an ICF Based Content Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Denise Fuchten Denise Fuchten 1,2*Adriana L. Smit Adriana L. Smit 1,2Inge Stegeman Inge Stegeman 1,2
  • 1 University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 2 Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Tinnitus is a common phenomenon with an estimated prevalence of 14.4% in the adult population. The experienced severity of tinnitus varies significantly among this population. Psychological factors have been identified as major contributors to this perceived severity, and numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between symptoms of depression and tinnitus severity. However, the assessment of tinnitus severity and depressive symptoms often relies on self-report questionnaires, which show content overlap. This can pose challenges in distinguishing both conditions and interpreting their relationship. To address these challenges, the current study aims to examine the overlap between tinnitus and depressive symptom questionnaires by analyzing their content based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework. Methods and analysis: Six validated, multi-item, self-report questionnaires measuring perceived tinnitus severity (THI, TQ, mTQ, THQ, TRQ, TFI) and seven validated, multi-item, self-report, depressive symptom questionnaires (BDI-II, HADS-D, SDS, PHQ-9, CES-D, SCL-90-R depression subscale, DASS-42 depression subscale) will be included in the content analysis. The content of all items of these questionnaires will be linked to ICF categories and item overlap between the tinnitus and depressive symptom questionnaires will be analyzed. Discussion: By exploring the overlap between depression and tinnitus questionnaires, this study seeks to gain a better understanding of the relationship between tinnitus and depression, by distinguishing between shared content and independent constructs of symptom scores and shedding light on the factors influencing their measured severity. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this study, due to the characteristics of the study design. Findings will be disseminated trough peer-reviewed open access publication and scientific conferences.

    Keywords: tinnitus questionnaires, Depression questionnaires, Content Analysis, overlap, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and health (ICF)

    Received: 26 Jan 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Fuchten, Smit and Stegeman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Denise Fuchten, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.