ABSTRACT
Introduction: Tinnitus is a common complaint amongpatients with ear diseases and can be serious if not treated.Recently, a Malay tinnitus questionnaire, known as the“Borang Evaluasi Soal selidik Tinnitus” (BEST) had beendeveloped and preliminarily validated among Malayspeakingpopulation. The aims of the present study were todetermine the test-retest reliability and responsiveness ofthe BEST questionnaire.Method: Forty-six Malay adults (aged 23-74 years) withtinnitus were enrolled. They were instructed to fill in theBEST questionnaire accordingly. After one week, 21 of themwere asked to fill in the questionnaire again. The other 25subjects underwent tinnitus intervention for three monthsand following this; the BEST was administered to themagain.Results: In the test-retest reliability task, the intraclasscorrelation values obtained were acceptably high (0.70-0.90).After the intervention, significant differences in the BESTresult were found in the mind domain, main domain andcomposite score (p<0.05) with moderate effect sizes (0.61-0.70).Conclusion: The test-retest reliability of the BEST was foundto be good. It also showed good responsiveness tointervention. The clinical usefulness of the BEST inassessing patients with tinnitus was further supported bythe present study.nnaire; reliability; responsiveness; effect size
ABSTRACT
SUMMARY Introduction: The aim of this article was to review the types of psychological interventions for patients with tinnitus, professionals involved in giving the intervention, the effectiveness of each method of interventions and comparisons with non-psychological approaches in treating tinnitus. Materials and Methods: PubMed database searched. Results: Twenty one articles that employed randomized controlled trials design were included. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was the most common intervention conducted by the researchers. Clinical psychologists and trainee psychologists were the most professionals involved in the therapy. The length of therapy ranged from six weeks to three months. Discussion: Psychological interventions were more effective in reducing psychological impacts of tinnitus than non-psychological interventions such as the use of tinnitus maskers. Nevertheless, the combination of the treatments yielded more superior outcomes. Conclusion: A simplified version of psychological intervention that can be implemented by other clinical professionals should be developed to treat tinnitus holistically to overcome the shortage number of clinical psychologists.