490
Views
4
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Use of open-ended questionnaires to examine the effects of tinnitus and its relation to patient-reported outcome measures

ORCID Icon, , , ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 592-599 | Received 08 Mar 2021, Accepted 15 Oct 2021, Published online: 02 Nov 2021
 

Abstract

Objective

The primary aim of the study was to examine the automated linguistic analysis of the open-ended problem (PQ) and life-effects (LEQ) questionnaires to understand the psychological effects of tinnitus.

Design

The study used a cross-sectional design. Participants completed online questionnaires which included demographic questions, several standardised patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and two open-ended questions focussing on PQ and LEQ related to tinnitus. The response to open-ended questions was analysed using the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC) software to identify the frequency of text on various linguistic dimensions relevant to tinnitus.

Study sample

336 individuals with tinnitus.

Results

The study results point to two broad findings. First, although PQ and LEQ have some similarities with PROMs (e.g. the linguistic dimension negative emotions having a weak positive correlation with anxiety and depression), no correlation with the number of dimensions suggests that the open-ended questions identify additional elements that are not captured in PROMs. Second, more linguistic dimensions from the PQ correlate with PROMs compared to LEQ suggesting that the current PROMs are problem-oriented.

Conclusions

The study results support the idea that the use of open-ended questions in addition to PROMs may help optimise the efforts in examining the effects of chronic conditions such as tinnitus.

Acknowledgements

The authors like to acknowledge Dr. Hansapani Rodrigo for help with statistical analysis. The authors also like to acknowledge late Prof. Dafydd Stephens who motivated the clinicians and researchers to use the problem and life-effects open-ended questions to gather patient perspectives.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Figshare at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13681924.

Additional information

Funding

This work is partly funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) under the award number R21DC017214.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.