How can sound generating devices support coping with tinnitus?

Figures & data

Figure 1. Interview questions.

Table 1. Participant Information.

Pseudonym	Description	Age	Length of tinnitus onset	Hearing aids used	Sound generators used
John	John lives alone and is retired; he has bilateral high frequency sensorineural hearing loss for which he has hearing aids. He clearly remembered the permanence of his tinnitus having had intermittent tinnitus for a long time. He described using the radio at night to help reduce the tinnitus prior to attending his tinnitus consultation.	69	2 years	Yes – bilateral Phonak Nathos S + M	Yes – Wellcare
Sarah	Sarah lives with her husband and is retired. She has a mild high frequency hearing loss and feels she has no hearing difficulties. She noticed her tinnitus both during the day and at night. She distinctly recalled her tinnitus onset following an ear infection and had previously tried sleeping with the window open to manage her tinnitus.	65	1 year	none	Yes – Wellcare
Beverley	Beverley lives with her husband and two children. She had to give up working due to long-term health problems. She was unsure when her tinnitus first started but noticed it became progressively more noticeable approximately 2 years ago.	57	2 years	none	Yes – Wellcare
Janet	Janet lives alone. She recalled her tinnitus onset after a sudden deterioration of hearing in her right ear. She found her tinnitus would distract her from completing tasks. She reported a close bereavement around the time of the tinnitus which added to the stress she was already experiencing	75	2 years	none	Yes – Wellcare
David	David lives with his wife and is retired. He noticed his tinnitus around the time his hearing had deteriorated. He felt having the hearing loss made the tinnitus more noticeable. He found it difficult to go to sleep at night as that was when the tinnitus was more pronounced.	62	1 year	Yes – Bilateral Phonak Nathos Auto M	Yes –Wellcare
Shirley	Shirley lives with her husband. She experienced a major health issue which left her wheelchair-bound. She reported having had a major health condition she was able to make sense of her tinnitus mainly due to using her SGD.	70	3 years	Yes – Unilateral Left Phonak S + M	Yes – Wellcare
Molly	Molly lives with her two children and partner. She has Meniere’ s Disease and as a result has tinnitus. She was distinctly able to remember the onset of her tinnitus and reported over time she had learnt to accept it.	38	1 year	no	Yes – Wellcare
Kate	Kate lives with her husband and recalled the onset of her tinnitus impacting on her work life. She reported working with teenagers and initially struggled to share the impact tinnitus had on her. She feared the children would make fun of her for having an invisible sound.	50	2 years	no	Yes – Wellcare
Derek	Derek does voluntary work and for him it was important to learn to cope with the tinnitus.	79	3 years	Yes – bilateral Phonak Nathos S + M	Yes – Wellcare
Dorothy	Dorothy is a retired nurse. She reported although she had some understanding of tinnitus she did not expect it to be quite as impactful as it was. She struggled with sharing the tinnitus impact with her friends as she felt they would not be able to relate to it as it was invisible. She reported she tried listening to music at night which helped a little.	72	2 years	no	Yes – Wellcare

Figure 2. The connection between the mechanisms.