Misophonia in Singaporean Psychiatric Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study
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Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119007, Singapore
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Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Health System, Singapore 119228, Singapore
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College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, Singapore 387380, Singapore
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Institute for Global Health Innovations, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam
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Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
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Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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Vietnam Young Physicians’ Association, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(7), 1410; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071410
Received: 1 June 2018 / Revised: 19 June 2018 / Accepted: 2 July 2018 / Published: 4 July 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adult Psychiatry)
Misophonia, also known as selective sound sensitivity syndrome, is a condition characterized by strong dislike of specific sounds with accompanying distressing reactions. To date, misophonia is still poorly understood. This study aimed to identify factors associated with severity of misophonic symptoms in Singaporean psychiatric patients. Ninety-two psychiatric patients were recruited from a large teaching hospital in Singapore in a cross-sectional study. Socio-demographics, severity of depression, anxiety and stress, and severity of misophonic symptoms were analyzed. Correlation analysis showed that anxiety, depression, and stress scores—as measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21)—were significantly positively correlated with the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale (A-MISO-S) scores. After adjustment for confounding factors, multivariate regression analysis showed that anxiety (β = 0.385, p = 0.029) remained significantly associated with A-MISO-S. Age, gender, depression, and stress were not significantly associated with the severity of misophonia. The findings showed that the severity of anxiety was associated with severity of misophonia in Singaporean psychiatric patients. Further research is needed to explore the nature of misophonia and its relationship with other psychiatric disorders.