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Prevalence of Misophonia in College Going Students of India: A Preliminary Survey

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Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Misophonia, meaning "hatred of sound", is a proposed neurological condition in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses others may deem unreasonable. The studies on prevalence of misophonia show that almost 20% of college going students exhibit experience misophonia like symptoms worldwide. These studies help us understand that decreased tolerance towards certain sounds has a high prevalence rate. In a country like India, the diversity in terms of exposure to various levels of noise and traditional habits spans across different age groups, locations, socio-economic statuses, and communities. This study aims to establish the prevalence rate and severity of misophonia in college going-students of India and also an attempt to determine gender dominance. The total participants were 328 undergraduate students all over India, with diverse cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds. An online survey was conducted through Google forms, wherein the participants filled the self-rating Amsterdam Misophonia Scale and Misophonia Questionnaire. The results of the study showed that the prevalence of misophonia was approximately 15.85%, with a moderate to severe degree of misophonia. The results indicate that misophonia is highly prevalent in India and there is no gender dominance in experiencing misophonia.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge with gratitude Prof. M Pushpavathi, Director, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore affiliated to the University of Mysore for permitting to conduct the study at the institute. The authors also like to acknowledge the participants for co-operation.

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There is no funding by any agency for the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore, Karnataka, 570006, India

    Nischay Mahima Patel, Ridha Fameen, Neha Shafeek & Prashanth Prabhu

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  1. Nischay Mahima Patel
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  2. Ridha Fameen
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  3. Neha Shafeek
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  4. Prashanth Prabhu
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Contributions

NMP, was involved in study design, data collection, analysis of the results and writing the manuscript; RF was involved in study design, stimulus preparation, data collection, analysis of the data, interpretation and writing the manuscript; NS was involved in study design, data collection, analysis of the results and writing the manuscript and PP, was involved in study design, data collection, analysis of the results and writing the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Prashanth Prabhu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Ethical Approval

In the present study, all the testing procedures were carried out on humans using non-invasive techniques, adhering to the guidelines of the Ethics Approval Committee of the institute.

Consent for Participation

All the procedures were explained to the participants, and informed consent was taken from all the participants of the study.

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Patel, N.M., Fameen, R., Shafeek, N. et al. Prevalence of Misophonia in College Going Students of India: A Preliminary Survey. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 75, 374–378 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-022-03266-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-022-03266-z

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