Psychiatric diagnoses in patients with psychogenic dizziness or severe tinnitus
Simpson, R.B.; Nedzelski, J.M.; Barber, H.O.; Thomas, M.R.
Journal of Otolaryngology 17(6): 325-330
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0381-6605 PMID: 3225885 Document Number: 320225
Psychiatric assessments were made of patients with psychogenic dizziness (N = 17) and severe tinnitus (N = 24) using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). The psychogenic dizziness group had a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders (100%), the majority being anxiety disorders (94%), particularly diagnoses in the panic-agoraphobic cluster (76%). The severe tinnitus group had a lower prevalence of psychiatric disorders (63%) with a predominance of mood disorders (46%). Those tinnitus patients with no hearing loss tended to have more diagnoses per patient and more anxiety disorders than those with hearing loss. Although this was not a random sampling of these patients populations, the results are of sufficient magnitude to warrant further studies. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of treatment and future research.