TY - JOUR
T1 - Health care utilization and mental health diagnoses among veterans with tinnitus
AU - Carlson, Kathleen F.
AU - Gilbert, Tess A.
AU - O’neil, Maya E.
AU - Zaugg, Tara L.
AU - Manning, Candice A.
AU - Kaelin, Christine
AU - Thielman, Emily J.
AU - Reavis, Kelly M.
AU - Henry, James A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Grants SPiRE 121 RX002216-01, awarded to K. F. Carlson; C9427S, awarded to J. A. Henry; and C9230C, awarded to M. P. Feeney. The contents of this article do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Government.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - Purpose: Tinnitus is prevalent among military Veterans and may frequently co-occur with mental health disorders. This study examined health care utilization and mental health diagnoses among Veterans with and without tinnitus who receive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care. Method: We randomly sampled 10% of VA health care users for a 5-year period between 2011 and 2016. Tinnitus and other diagnoses were identified using International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes; Veterans assigned 1 or more inpatient codes or 2 or more outpatient codes were considered to have the respective diagnosis. We examined demographics, military service, clinical characteristics, and health care utilization of Veterans with and without tinnitus diagnoses. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate associations between tinnitus and mental health diagnoses of interest. Results: Among 617,534 eligible Veterans, 3.8% met criteria for tinnitus diagnosis. Prevalence of tinnitus was associated with sex, age, race, marital status, and VA service connection status; additionally, hearing loss and traumatic brain injury were frequently codiagnosed with tinnitus. Veterans with tinnitus had higher annual health care utilization than those without. While controlling for potential confounders, tinnitus diagnoses were associated with mental health diagnoses, including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Conclusion: Findings suggest that Veterans who are diagnosed with tinnitus have more health care utilization and are more frequently diagnosed with mental health disorders than Veterans who are not diagnosed with tinnitus. This suggests a need for coordinated tinnitus and mental health care services for Veterans in the VA system of care.
AB - Purpose: Tinnitus is prevalent among military Veterans and may frequently co-occur with mental health disorders. This study examined health care utilization and mental health diagnoses among Veterans with and without tinnitus who receive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care. Method: We randomly sampled 10% of VA health care users for a 5-year period between 2011 and 2016. Tinnitus and other diagnoses were identified using International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes; Veterans assigned 1 or more inpatient codes or 2 or more outpatient codes were considered to have the respective diagnosis. We examined demographics, military service, clinical characteristics, and health care utilization of Veterans with and without tinnitus diagnoses. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate associations between tinnitus and mental health diagnoses of interest. Results: Among 617,534 eligible Veterans, 3.8% met criteria for tinnitus diagnosis. Prevalence of tinnitus was associated with sex, age, race, marital status, and VA service connection status; additionally, hearing loss and traumatic brain injury were frequently codiagnosed with tinnitus. Veterans with tinnitus had higher annual health care utilization than those without. While controlling for potential confounders, tinnitus diagnoses were associated with mental health diagnoses, including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Conclusion: Findings suggest that Veterans who are diagnosed with tinnitus have more health care utilization and are more frequently diagnosed with mental health disorders than Veterans who are not diagnosed with tinnitus. This suggests a need for coordinated tinnitus and mental health care services for Veterans in the VA system of care.
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U2 - 10.1044/2018_AJA-TTR17-18-0042
DO - 10.1044/2018_AJA-TTR17-18-0042
M3 - Article
C2 - 31022360
AN - SCOPUS:85065425207
SN - 1059-0889
VL - 28
SP - 181
EP - 190
JO - American journal of audiology
JF - American journal of audiology
IS - 1S
ER -