Tinnitus, Subjective
Conditions
Keywords
subjective tinnitus, tinnitus relieving sound, clinical effects
Brief summary
Objective Tinnitus is one of the most common acoustic disorders by affecting 5-43% people around the world, and tinnitus is harmful to social and individuals, inducing to annoyance, irritability, anxiety, depression, insomnia and concentration difficulties. Many efforts have been made to help tinnitus suffers, however, the curative means are still in absence. This study aims to introduce a novel sound therapy for tinnitus and to evaluate the efficacy of modified tinnitus relieving sound treatment in comparison with unmodified music which served as a control. Methods and analysis A randomized, triple-blinded, controlled, clinical trial will be carried out. 68 patients with subjective tinnitus will be recruited and randomized into two groups in 1:1 ratio. The primary outcomes will be Tinnitus Handicapped Inventory (THI), Hospital Anxiety and Distress Scale (HADS), and visual analogue scale (VAS) for tinnitus; the secondary outcome measures will be Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), tinnitus loudness matched by sensation level (LM, SL), and minimum masking level (MML). Assessment will be performed at baseline and at 1, 3, 9, and 12 months post-randomization. The sound stimulus will be persistent until 9 months after randomization, and be interdictory in the last three months.
Interventions
OTHERListening to unmodified music
Listening to unmodified music for at least 2 hours a day
OTHERListening to modified tinnitus relieving sound
Listening to modified tinnitus relieving sound for at least 2 hours a day
Sponsors
Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Adults aged between 18 to 80 years old; 2. Diagnosed with subjective tinnitus; 3. Chronic tinnitus: tinnitus course ≥3 months; 4. Be able to understand and communicate with Mandarin； 5. The average pure tone threshold (0.5, 1, 2kHz) ≤ 55dB HL of the worse ear; 6. Subjects are able to understand the purpose of the study, volunteer to participate and cooperate with the instructors to complete the experiment, and be willing to sign the informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
1. Pulsatile tinnitus and objective tinnitus； 2. Having significant health issues that affect or prevent participation or continue with the follow-up; 3. Diseases requiring other medical intervention first (eg, infections, tumors, otosclerosis, Meniere's disease, the acute stage of sudden sensorineural hearing loss); 4. People with severe hyperacusis, severe anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders； 5. Currently participating in other research projects that may affect tinnitus； 6. Subjects who are not considered suitable for this clinical trial by the researchers.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tinnitus Handicapped Inventory (THI) | 1 months from baseline | THI is a self-assessment inventory including 25 items with grades four categories of tinnitus severity: slight corresponding to a score 0-16, mild (18-36), moderate (38-56), severe (58-100). The higher the score the more severe the tinnitus. |
| Hospital Anxiety and Distress Scale (HADS) | 1 months from baseline | HADS includes two subscales for anxiety and depression, each with respective 7 items, and the grades are valued by scoring: negative (0-7), positive (8-21). |
| Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for tinnitus | 1 months from baseline | Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for tinnitus is a universal psychometric scale evaluating subjective tinnintus. A total score is 10, from 0 to 10. The higher the score, the more severe the symptom. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) | 1 months from baseline | AIS grades three categories of sleep disorder: no insomnia scoring below 4, suspicious (4-6), insomnia (7-24) |
| tinnitus loudness matched by sensation level (LM, SL) | 1 months from baseline | The loudness of tinnitus is reflected in sensation level (dB SL). Sensation level is defined as the loudness value above hearing threshold at the pitch of tinnitus. |
| minimum masking level (MML) | 1 months from baseline | MML test is presented bilaterally, the noise is raised until tinnitus is just covered in both ears. The higher the value, the more severe the tinnitus. |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactDongmei Tang
Backup ContactHuiqian Yu
Outcome results
None listed