Predicting the gender of individuals with tinnitus based on daily life data of the TrackYourTinnitus mHealth platform

Abstract

Tinnitus is an auditory phantom perception in the absence of an external sound stimulation. People with tinnitus often report severe constraints in their daily life. Interestingly, indications exist on gender differences between women and men both in the symptom profile as well as in the response to specific tinnitus treatments. In this paper, data of the TrackYourTinnitus platform (TYT) were analyzed to investigate whether the gender of users can be predicted. In general, the TYT mobile Health crowdsensing platform was developed to demystify the daily and momentary variations of tinnitus symptoms over time. The goal of the presented investigation is a better understanding of gender-related differences in the symptom profiles of users from TYT. Based on two questionnaires of TYT, four machine learning based classifiers were trained and analyzed. With respect to the provided daily answers, the gender of TYT users can be predicted with an accuracy of 81.7%. In this context, worries, difficulties in concentration, and irritability towards the family are the three most important characteristics for predicting the gender. Note that in contrast to existing studies on TYT, daily answers to the worst symptom question were firstly investigated in more detail. It was found that results of this question significantly contribute to the prediction of the gender of TYT users. Overall, our findings indicate gender-related differences in tinnitus and tinnitus-related symptoms. Based on evidence that gender impacts the development of tinnitus, the gathered insights can be considered relevant and justify further investigations in this direction.