Digital Tinnitus Counseling in Clinical Practice: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Subjective tinnitus, defined as the perception of sound without an external source, is a common and often debilitating condition. In the absence of pharmacotherapy, disease management guidelines recommend counseling interventions to alleviate tinnitus-related distress and improve patient outcome. This study evaluated the benefit of guideline-compliant counseling provided by “Meine Tinnitus App”, a smartphone-based application, for the treatment of subjective tinnitus. Methods: A randomized controlled study was conducted in 204 patients with confirmed chronic subjective tinnitus enrolled at 33 ear, nose and throat (ENT) practices in Germany. Tinnitus improvement was evaluated after 10 weeks of intervention (digital counseling in addition to standard care vs. standard care only). The primary endpoint was the change in tinnitus-related distress (measured by the Mini-TQ-12 validated questionnaire). The secondary endpoint was the change in tinnitus-associated daily burden and coping difficulties (measured by the validated BVB-2000 questionnaire). Treatment effects for the primary and secondary endpoints were represented by the estimated marginal means (EMMs). Results: Patients of the intervention group showed a significant reduction in tinnitus-related distress (EMM [95% CI]: 4.5 [3.3–5.8]; p < 0.001) and a significant improvement in tinnitus-associated daily burden and coping difficulties (EMM [95% CI]: 0.5 [0.2–0.7]; p < 0.001) compared to patients of the control group, with large to moderate effect sizes (Hedges’ g between 1.1. and 0.5). These positive treatment effects were confirmed by responder and sensitivity analyses. Additionally, patients with high vs. low app usage showed a greater improvement in treatment effect for both endpoints (p < 0.05), further supporting the health benefits of digital counseling. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the efficacy of tinnitus counseling provided by “Meine Tinnitus App” to alleviate tinnitus-related distress, daily burden, and coping difficulties in patients with subjective tinnitus (German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00025379).