Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 25;11(1):22949. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01632-5.
Knowledge on characteristics of people that seek help for tinnitus is scarce. The primary objective of this study was to describe differences in characteristics between people with tinnitus that seek help compared to those who do not seek help. Next, we described differences in characteristics between those with and without tinnitus. In this cross-sectional study, we sent a questionnaire on characteristics in different domains; demographic, tinnitus-specific, general- and psychological health, auditory and noise- and substance behaviour. We assessed if participants had sought help or planned to seek help for tinnitus. Tinnitus distress was defined with the Tinnitus Functional Index. Differences between groups (help seeking: yes/no, tinnitus: yes/no) were described. 932 people took part in our survey. Two hundred and sixteen participants were defined as having tinnitus (23.2%). Seventy-three of those sought or planned to seek help. A constant tinnitus pattern, a varying tinnitus loudness, and hearing loss, were described more frequently in help seekers. Help seekers reported higher TFI scores. Differences between help seekers and people not seeking help were mainly identified in tinnitus- and audiological characteristics. These outcomes might function as a foundation to explore the heterogeneity in tinnitus patients.
有关寻求耳鸣治疗人群特征的知识相对较少。本研究的主要目的是描述寻求耳鸣治疗者与未寻求治疗者之间的特征差异。其次，我们还描述了有耳鸣和无耳鸣者之间的特征差异。在这项横断面研究中，我们发放了一份关于不同领域特征的问卷，包括人口统计学、耳鸣特异性、一般和心理健康、听觉和噪声及物质使用行为。我们评估了参与者是否已寻求或计划寻求耳鸣治疗。耳鸣困扰程度用耳鸣功能指数（Tinnitus Functional Index）进行定义。描述了不同组之间的差异（是否寻求帮助：是/否，是否有耳鸣：是/否）。共有 932 人参与了我们的调查。216 名参与者被定义为患有耳鸣（23.2%）。其中 73 人寻求或计划寻求帮助。求助者更常描述为有持续的耳鸣模式、变化的耳鸣响度和听力损失。求助者报告的 TFI 评分更高。求助者和未寻求帮助者之间的差异主要存在于耳鸣和听觉特征方面。这些结果可能为探索耳鸣患者的异质性提供基础。
