Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To explore the effects of a new tinnitus treatment program (tinnitus intensive therapy [TIT]) based on auditory perception principles and neural habituation.

METHODS:

A follow-up study with measurement of treatment effects every third month over a 2-year period in which the cases were their own controls.

PARTICIPANTS:

There were 25 participants with a mean age 50.1 years (SD = 16.1); 10 women (52.7 years; SD = 16.8) and 15 men (48.3 years; SD = 15.9). The participants were recruited from clinical population admitted to a polyclinic tinnitus treatment program in western Germany.

RESULTS:

There was a significant reduction of tinnitus in the follow-up period. Mean baseline tinnitus scores (Tinnitus Fragebogen; Goebel & Hiller, 1998) at the start of the treatment were 50.9 (SD = 14.5) and the final scores were 14.2 (SD = 5.9). In total, the clinical improvement over the follow-up period was 72.1%.

CONCLUSION:

The TIT program showed a significant clinical treatment effect and should be tested further in a multicenter treatment project. The findings support the Jastreboff habituation model of tinnitus, but social cognitive factors should also be taken into account.

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