Investigating the Impact of Cognitive Training for Individuals With Bothersome Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive training in improving tinnitus bother and to identify predictors of patient response.

STUDY

DESIGN

Prospective open-label randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

Online.

METHODS

Participants were adults with subjective idiopathic nonpulsatile tinnitus causing significant tinnitus-related distress. The intervention group trained by using auditory-intensive exercises for 20 minutes per day, 5 days per week, for 8 weeks. The active control group trained on the same schedule with non-auditory intensive games. Surveys were completed at baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks.

RESULTS

A total of 64 participants completed the study. The median age was 63 years (range, 25-69) in the intervention group and 61 years (34-68) in the control group. Mixed model analysis revealed that within-subject change in Tinnitus Functional Index in the intervention group was not different than the control group, with marginal mean differences (95% CI): 0.24 (-11.20 to 10.7) and 2.17 (-8.50 to 12.83) at 8 weeks and 2.33 (-8.6 to 13.3) and 3.36 (-7.91 to 14.6) at 12 weeks, respectively. When the 2 study groups were compared, the control group had higher Tinnitus Functional Index scores than the intervention group by 10.5 points at baseline (95% CI, -0.92 to 29.89), 8.1 at 8 weeks (95% CI, -3.27 to 19.42), and 9.4 at 12 weeks (95% CI, -2.45 to 21.34).

CONCLUSION

Auditory-intensive cognitive training was not associated with changes in self-reported tinnitus bother. Given the potential for neuroplasticity to affect tinnitus, we believe that future studies on cognitive training for tinnitus remain relevant.