A Systematic Review of Psychometric Validation for Subjective Tinnitus Outcome Measures Assessing Acute Treatment Effects.

PURPOSE: Tinnitus treatments are often scientifically evaluated using self-report questionnaires as primary outcome measures. However, guidelines for the appropriate application of these tools in research study designs are limited. This study aims to determine if any tinnitus outcome measure is validated for use in determining symptom change in response to treatments administered with hyperacute follow-up (less than 5 days).

DATABASES REVIEWED: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted of peer-reviewed articles on the psychometric properties of tinnitus outcome measures. A total of 594 articles were identified with 7 articles included for final review. Psychometric data, including the minimum clinically important difference and the time from intervention to outcome measurement (data collection interval), were extracted.

RESULTS

The final review included 5 studies on the Tinnitus Functional Index and 2 on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. The time intervals for intervention follow-up were defined as: 0-1 days = immediate, 2-5 days = hyperacute, 6-10 days = acute, 11-31 days = subacute, and >31 days = chronic. Two studies utilized chronic time intervals and 4 studies had follow-up in the subacute interval. The final study reported a wide follow-up range from hyperacute to subacute. No studies evaluated psychometrics with an immediate interval.

CONCLUSION

There is no psychometrically validated tinnitus outcome measure for immediate treatment intervals and little evidence for hyperacute or acute intervals. Further research into the validity of tinnitus measurement tools in various time frames is required for the guidance of future study design.