The Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) database: A new approach for delineation of tinnitus subtypes and generation of predictors for treatment outcome

Abstract

Tinnitus, the phantom perception of sound, is a frequent disorder that causes significant morbidity and treatment is elusive. A large variety of different treatment options have been proposed and from most of them some patients benefit. However, a particular treatment that helps one patient may fail for others. This suggests that there are different forms of tinnitus which differ in their pathophysiology and their response to specific treatments. Therefore, it is a major challenge for tinnitus treatment to identify the most promising therapy for a specific patient.However, most published clinical treatment studies have enrolled only relatively small patient samples, making it difficult to identify predictors of treatment response for specific approaches. Furthermore, inter-study comparability is limited because of varying methods of tinnitus assessment and different outcome parameters. Performing clinical trials according to standardized methodology and pooling the data in a database should facilitate both clinical subtypisation of different forms of tinnitus, and identification of promising treatments for different types of tinnitus. This would be an important step towards the goal of individualized treatment of tinnitus.For these reasons, an international database of tinnitus patients, who undergo specific treatments, and are assessed during the course of this treatment with standardized instruments (e.g., psychoacoustic measures, questionnaires) has been established. The primary objectives of this database are (1) collecting a standardized set of data on patient characteristics, treatments, and outcomes from tinnitus patients consulting specialized tinnitus clinics all over the world (at present 13 centers in 8 countries), (2) delineating different subtypes of tinnitus based on data that has been systematically collected and (3) identifying predictors for individual treatment response based on the clinical profile. Starting in 2008, the database currently contains data from more than 400 patients. It is expected that more centers will join the project and that the patient numbers will rapidly grow, so that this international database will further facilitate future research and contribute to the development of evidence based on individualized treatment.

Treatment of chronic tinnitus with repeated sessions of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation: outcomes from an open-label pilot study

“…Prospective assessment of treatment effects was performed using standardized procedures as established in the Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) database [24]. This follows the consensus for patient assessment and outcome measurement found by tinnitus experts from many countries during an international tinnitus conference in 2006 [26].…”

“…tDCS was delivered by a Eldith DC-Stimulator Ò (Neuroconn, Ilmenau, Germany) through electrodes embedded in sponges soaked with tap water (patients 1-15) or NaCl 0.9% (patients [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The cathode was placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with the center over F3 (10-20 system), the anode over the right DLPFC (F4).…”

Characterisitics and maskability of self-reported tinnitus in Adult Nigerians

“…With etiology largely unknown, and several factors believed to be associated with development of different types of tinnitus, research on tinnitus has focused mainly on moderators 5 and mediators 6 of tinnitus distress. The overall effect is large variety of different treatment options, with most producing partial or no benefit to the tinnitus sufferers 7 . The justification for measurement of tinnitus characteristics is its use in a treatment plan 8 .…”

Reduction of Tinnitus Severity by the Centrally Acting Muscle Relaxant Cyclobenzaprine: An Open-Label Pilot Study

“…Prospective assessment of treatment effects was performed using standardized procedures as established in the Tinnitus Research Initiative database [Landgrebe et al, 2011b]. This follows the consensus for patient assessment and outcome measurement found by tinnitus experts from many countries during an international tinnitus conference in Regensburg, Germany in 2006 .…”