Soldiering on: a survey on the lived experience of tinnitus in aged military veterans in the UK
Soldiering on: a survey on the lived experience of tinnitus in aged military veterans in the UK
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DOI：
10.1136/medhum-2019-011671
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发表时间：
2019-12-01
影响因子：
1.2
通讯作者：
Hoare, Derek James
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Burns-O'Connell, Georgina;Stockdale, David;Hoare, Derek James
耳鸣长期以来一直被视为一个医学难题，医学和其他学科之间很少有讨论。它涉及在没有任何外部声源的情况下耳朵或头部对声音的感知，很可能是某种形式的听力损失的自然结果。对于许多人来说，耳鸣是一件令人烦恼的事情，它与失眠、注意力不集中和听力能力受损等各种问题有关。然而，由于人文学科或社会科学的关注很少，我们对耳鸣成年人的更广泛的视角和社会心理背景的理解是有限的，尤其是在英国退伍军人中。本研究的目的是探讨耳鸣对英国老年退伍军人的影响，并考虑他们获得的支持以及在耳鸣中良好生活所需的支持。共有 120 名英国老年退伍军人参与了这项研究。数据揭示了英国退伍军人和其他研究人群之间的相似点和差异。例如，老年退伍军人的耳鸣症状严重程度高于一般（年轻）研究人群，特别是在侵入性测量和耳鸣对听力能力的影响方面。退伍军人对社会支持的看法不一。许多人不想与他人谈论耳鸣和/或不想给家人带来负担，宁愿在“后台”处理耳鸣。其他人则欣赏同理心或同情心；许多人表示希望他们的家人和/或朋友能够更好地了解他们患有耳鸣的经历以及耳鸣给他们带来的问题。这些复杂性支持需要跨学科工作来理解和应对退伍军人的耳鸣相关问题。
Tinnitus has long been interrogated as a medical conundrum, with little discourse between medicine and other disciplines. It involves the perception of sound in the ears or head without any external sound source, most likely a natural consequence of some form of hearing loss. For many people, tinnitus is bothersome and associated with various problems such as insomnia, difficulty concentrating and impaired listening ability. Nevertheless, with little attention from humanities or the social sciences, our understanding of the wider perspectives and psychosocial context of adults with tinnitus is limited, especially among UK military veterans. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of tinnitus on aged UK veterans, and to consider the support they receive and require to live well with tinnitus. In all, 120 aged UK veterans took part in this study. Data revealed similarities and differences between UK veteran and other study populations. For example, tinnitus symptom severity was higher in aged veterans than a general (younger) research population, particularly so on measures of intrusiveness and the effect of tinnitus on listening ability. Veterans had mixed views on social support. Many did not want to talk about tinnitus with others and/or did not want to burden their family, preferring to deal with their tinnitus 'backstage'. Others appreciated empathy or sympathy; many implied a desire that their family and/or friends could better understand their experience of living with tinnitus and the problems it caused them. These complexities support a need for cross-disciplinary work to understand and respond to tinnitus-related problems in veterans.