Prevalence of Misophonia and Correlates of Its Symptoms among Inpatients with Depression

Misophonia is an underexplored condition that significantly decreases the quality of life of those who suffer from it. It has neurological and physiological correlates and is associated with a variety of psychiatric symptoms; however, a growing body of data suggests that it is a discrete disorder. While comorbid diagnoses among people with misophonia have been a matter of research interest for many years there is no data on the frequency of misophonia among people with psychiatric disorders. This could be the next step to reveal additional mechanisms underlying misophonia. Until recently, the use of a variety of non-validated questionnaires and the dominance of internet-based studies have been also a major obstacles to a proper definition of misophonia. A total of 94 inpatients diagnosed with depression were assessed for misophonia with face-to-face interviews as well as with MisoQuest—a validated misophonia questionnaire. The prevalence of misophonia among these patients and the congruence of MisoQuest with face-to-face interviews were evaluated. Additionally, the patients filled in a series of questionnaires that measured a variety of psychiatric symptoms and psychological traits. Anxiety, depression, impulsivity, somatic pain, vegetative symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, gender, and age were analyzed in relation to the severity of symptoms of misophonia. Between 8.5 to 12.76% of inpatients with depression were diagnosed with misophonia (depending on measurement and inclusion criteria). MisoQuest accuracy was equal to 92.55%, sensitivity-66.67% and specificity-96.34%. Severity of misophonia symptoms was positively correlated to the greatest extent with anxiety. Moderate positive correlation was also found between severity of misophonia symptoms and depressive symptoms, intrusions, and somatic pain; a weak positive correlation was found between severity of misophonia and non-planning impulsivity, motor impulsivity, avoidance, and vegetative symptoms. There was no relationship between the severity of misophonia symptoms and attentional impulsivity or the age of participants.