Differences in characteristics between people with tinnitus that seek help and that do not.

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.

Prediction models for clinical outcome after cochlear implantation: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: Cochlear implants (CIs) are implantable hearing devices with a wide variation in clinical outcome between patients. We aim to provide an overview of the literature on prediction models and their performance for clinical outcome after cochlear implantation in bilateral hearing loss or deafness. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: In this systematic review, studies describing the development or external validation of a multivariable model for predicting clinical CI outcome were eligible for selection. RESULTS: A total of 4,042 references were screened. We included nine development studies and one external validation study. The outcome measure of all development studies was speech perception performance after cochlear implantation. The most commonly used model predictors were duration of hearing loss or deafness (n = 7), different types of preoperative measurements (n = 5), and etiology (n = 3). In three studies, crucial information to enable the model to be used for individual risk prediction was missing. One study performed internal validation,two models were externally validated. One study reported specific discrimination or calibration performance measures. CONCLUSION: Although many articles describe development studies of prediction models for speech perception performance after cochlear implantation, the value of most of these models for their application in clinical practice remains unclear. Therefore, research should focus on increasing the clinical relevance of existing CI outcome prediction models.