The correlation between the hyperacusis questionnaire and uncomfortable loudness levels is dependent on emotional exhaustion

Objective: To validate the hyperacusis questionnaire (HQ) in different strata of emotional exhaustion (EE). Design: HQ-scores and uncomfortable loudness levels (ULLs) were assessed in 348 individuals (140 men and 208 women) with low, intermediate, and high EE-levels. Results: Four individuals (1.1%) met the critical value for hyperacusis according to the HQ. An exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors from the HQ accounting for 57.6% of the variance. Internal consistency was acceptable for all subscales and for the total score, with Crohnbach's alpha ranging from 0.65 to 0.86. When controlling for hearing loss, significant correlations between the HQ and ULLs were found on both ears in those with intermediate (right:-0.328; left:-0.320) and high EE (right:-0.349; left:-0.393), but not with low EE (right:-0.204; left:-0.196). All correlations were negative, indicating that higher HQ-scores are correlated with lower ULLs. The strongest correlations were found for the social dimension, indicating that social aspects may correspond best to audiological parameters (ULLs) of hyperacusis. Conclusions: The results emphasize the need to take other factors, such as emotional exhaustion (long-term stress), into consideration when assessing hyperacusis with a questionnaire.