Presence of hearing loss is predictive of return for further stages of tinnitus therapy following initial education and counseling

Abstract

Objective

Identify clinical factors that predict the likelihood of patients returning for further evaluation and treatment following stage 1 education and counselling in a staged tinnitus habituation program.

Design

Retrospective cross-sectional study. Demographics, audiometric findings and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores were used for predictive modelling to determine the likelihood of patients returning for subsequent therapy.

Study samples

One hundred and ninety consecutive patients treated in an outpatient, staged tinnitus habituation program.

Results

Improvements in THI scores were observed in all subjects (n = 119, d = 0.49, p < 0.001), both for those without hearing loss (n = 13, d = 0.54, p = 0.03) and those with hearing loss (n = 106, d = 0.48, p < 0.001) following Stage 1 education and counselling. Subjects with hearing loss were 14 times more likely to return for Stage 2 evaluation (p < 0.001) following completion of Stage 1 education and counselling.

Conclusion

Subjects with idiopathic subjective non-pulsatile tinnitus across all degrees of tinnitus severity benefit from group education and counselling alone. Subjects with hearing loss, irrespective of most hearing loss configurations, are more likely to return for subsequent stages of the program.

Keywords:

• Tinnitus
• tinnitus therapy
• hearing loss
• education and counselling

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

The authors acknowledge the support of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.