Prevalence of Misophonia in Mumbai Hospital Study

11% of Study Group Shows Moderate to Severe Misophonia

A new study by Suman Chalotra, Nirali Chauhan, and Deepa Valame provides one of the first looks at misophonia prevalence in an Indian population. Their research, which translated and validated a standard misophonia questionnaire into Marathi, found that 11% of their 227 participants exhibited moderate to severe symptoms. This means that for more than one in ten people in the study, specific “trigger sounds” like chewing or pen-clicking could provoke strong emotional reactions, distress, and a desire to escape. This figure establishes a preliminary benchmark for the condition’s presence in Marathi-speaking communities, where epidemiological data has been virtually nonexistent.

Building a Diagnostic Tool for Marathi Speakers

The researchers focused on the Amsterdam Misophonia Questionnaire (A-MISO-S), a well-regarded instrument for assessing the condition’s severity. Their primary goal was to create a linguistically and culturally appropriate version for Marathi, a language spoken by over 83 million people. The team followed established translation guidelines, involving forward and backward translation by bilingual experts and a review by audiologists to ensure face validity—that the questions made sense in a clinical context.

To test the new tool, they conducted face-to-face interviews with 227 adults, excluding individuals with known hearing loss or psychological disorders to isolate misophonia symptoms. A subset of 30 participants, fluent in both English and Marathi, retook the questionnaire in both languages after two weeks. This design allowed the team to check for consistency over time and across language versions.

Reliable Questionnaire Reveals Gender Disparity

The analysis confirmed that the Marathi A-MISO-S is a robust tool. It showed strong internal consistency, meaning the questions reliably measured the same underlying construct of misophonia. The test-retest scores were also highly correlated, indicating that an individual’s results were stable over a short period.

Beyond validating the questionnaire, the data revealed significant patterns. The 11% prevalence of moderate-to-severe symptoms highlights that misophonia is not a rare experience in this group. Furthermore, a clear gender difference emerged: females were significantly more likely to report misophonic reactions than males (p = 0.03). This aligns with some, though not all, prior studies in other populations and points to a need to understand the complex biological, psychological, or social factors behind this disparity. The study found no significant association between misophonia and age.

Clinical and Research Implications for Hearing Health

The successful validation of the Marathi A-MISO-S has immediate practical value. It provides clinicians in India with a standardized, evidence-based method to identify and diagnose misophonia, which is often mistaken for or co-occurs with other hearing-related conditions like hyperacusis or psychiatric disorders. Accurate diagnosis is the essential first step toward management, which can include sound therapy, counseling, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

As the authors note, this work addresses a major gap in tools for non-English speaking populations. It enables larger-scale, culturally relevant studies to better understand misophonia’s true prevalence and triggers in India. The finding that females reported higher rates warrants deeper investigation into potential contributing factors, which could range from neurophysiological differences to social conditioning or reporting biases.

For individuals struggling with misophonia, this research reinforces that their experience is measurable and real. It also opens doors to treatment pathways. For instance, one promising approach highlighted in other research is the combination of noninvasive brain stimulation with CBT, which targets both the neurological and psychological aspects of the condition. Understanding misophonia also benefits from viewing it within the broader context of how auditory disorders and emotional states like anxiety interact.

A Step Toward Global Understanding

The study by Chalotra and colleagues is more than a translation project. It is a foundational step toward globalizing the understanding of misophonia. By confirming that a standard tool works in Marathi, they have set a precedent for similar work in other Indian and world languages. Their finding that 11% of their sample experienced significant symptoms underscores that misophonia is a common and impactful condition worthy of clinical attention and public awareness, not just in Western countries but worldwide.

The full study, “Translation and validation of Amsterdam Misophonia Questionnaire (A-MISO-S) in Marathi language,” is available for review. DOI: 10.1186/s43163-026-01108-1.