Logistic regression analysis of factors influencing the effectiveness of intensive sound masking therapy in patients with tinnitus

Abstract

ObjectivesTo investigate factors influencing the effectiveness of intensive sound masking therapy on tinnitus using logistic regression analysis.DesignThe study used a retrospective cross-section analysis.Participants102 patients with tinnitus were recruited at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China.InterventionIntensive sound masking therapy was used as an intervention approach for patients with tinnitus.Primary and secondary outcome measuresParticipants underwent audiological investigations and tinnitus pitch and loudness matching measurements, followed by intensive sound masking therapy. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) was used as the outcome measure pre and post treatment. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to investigate the association of demographic and audiological factors with effective therapy.ResultsAccording to the THI score changes pre and post sound masking intervention, 51 participants were categorised into an effective group, the remaining 51 participants were placed in a non-effective group. Those in the effective group were significantly younger than those in the non-effective group (P=0.012). Significantly more participants had flat audiogram configurations in the effective group (P=0.04). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99, P=0.007), audiometric configuration (P=0.027) and THI score pre treatment (OR=1.04, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.07, P<0.001) were significantly associated with therapeutic effectiveness. Further analysis showed that patients with flat audiometric configurations were 5.45 times more likely to respond to intervention than those with high-frequency steeply sloping audiograms (OR=5.45, 95% CI 1.67 to 17.86, P=0.005).ConclusionAudiometric configuration, age and THI scores appear to be predictive of the effectiveness of sound masking treatment. Gender, tinnitus characteristics and hearing threshold measures do not seem to be related to treatment effectiveness. A further randomised control study is needed to provide evidence of the effectiveness of prognostic factors in tinnitus interventions.

Reduktion der Tinnituslautstärke

“…Diese Stimulation scheint einen signifikanten Effekt zu haben, im Gegensatz zu Studien mit amplitudenmodulierten Reintönen [17]. Im Gegensatz zur herkömmlichen Maskierung, die durch ein lautes unspezifisches Rauschen den Tinnitus übertönen soll [4], zielt unser therapeutischer Ansatz darauf ab, die Entstehungsursache von Tinnitus im Gehirn, die laut unserem Modell primär der Verbesserung des Hörens (genauer, der Optimierung der Informationsübertragung zwischen Ohr und Gehirn) dient [14], überflüssig zu machen.…”

Aberrant Functional and Causal Connectivity in Acute Tinnitus With Sensorineural Hearing Loss

“…The prevalence of tinnitus reaches about 10-15% of the adult population. Of these, about 10-20% of patients are affected severely and sought medical therapy (Cai et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2018). At present, the clinical treatment for tinnitus includes counseling, sound therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, etc., however, no identified treatments have been effective and unequivocal to all types of tinnitus (Chen et al, 2017b;Tsai et al, 2018).…”

Reliability and validity of the mandarin version of the tinnitus primary function questionnaire

“…No large-scale epidemiological study of tinnitus patients in mainland China has been conducted to date, and thus we are unable to present detailed characteristics of Chinese tinnitus patients. According to some published papers related to tinnitus assessments [15–17] and treatments, [18] these patients share similar primary symptoms as those of other countries such as emotions, sleep, concentration, [3] and hearing problems. [19] However, we observed certain distinct features in Chinese tinnitus patients.…”