Psychological Treatment of Tinnitus<i>An Experimental Group Study</i>

TLDR

Twenty‑four patients with moderate‑to‑severe subjective tinnitus were randomized to a 10‑session coping‑technique treatment or a waiting‑list control, with daily self‑ratings of loudness, discomfort, depression, and irritation and three psychoacoustic assessments before and after intervention. The treatment group showed significantly greater improvement than the control, and after both groups received treatment, all measured variables improved, demonstrating that psychological methods can reduce tinnitus annoyance.

Abstract

Twenty-four patients with moderately severe (grade 2) to severe (grade 3) subjective tinnitus participated in an experimental group study. The patients were randomly assigned to a treatment group and a waiting-list control group. Treatment was given with a coping technique and comprised 10 one-hour sessions. Following a corresponding period without treatment, the control group was treated similarly. Daily self-recording of the subjective tinnitus loudness, the discomfort from the tinnitus, depression and irritation was performed before and after treatment. In addition, psychoacoustic measurement was undertaken on three occasions. The treatment group improved significantly more than the waiting-list control group. After treatment of the latter group, combined data of both groups showed statistically significant improvements in all variables. The results show that tinnitus annoyance can be treated by psychological methods.