Research Project About Psychological Strain, Quality of Life and Emotional Awareness in Patients With Tinnitus

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Validation of PRISM (Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure) as a assessment of quality of life and suffering in patients with tinnitus. Association between experiencing, verbalizing and regulating emotions and perceived tinnitus. Correlation analysis are used to search for connections between the subjective behavioral outcomes mentioned above and the objective EEG-patterns.

Detailed Description
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Validation of PRISM (Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure). Assessment of quality of life and suffering in patients with tinnitus in an observational study using different questionnaires. (THI, TF, TBF-12, BDI, BAI, SF-36). THI - Tinnitus Handicap Inventory TF - Tinnitus Questionnaire after Goebel and Hiller TBF-12 - Tinnitus Impairment Questionnaire BDI - Beck Depression Inventory BAI - Beck Anxiety Inventory SF-36 - Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire Association between experiencing, verbalizing and regulating emotions and perceived tinnitus using the TAS-20 (20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale) and the above mentioned questionnaires. EEG-studies on the spontaneous brain activity of individuals affected by tinnitus consistently report differences in the composition of the EEG-frequency spectrum between individuals with tinnitus and healthy controls. Furthermore it has been shown that not only the auditory cortex but other regions of the brain are involved in the perception of the chronic ear noise as well. Among them is the limbic system which is associated with the emotional processing of the human brain. Correlation analysis are used to search for connections between the subjective behavioral outcomes mentioned above and the objective EEG-patterns. Aim of the current study is to provide conclusive models of associated assessments of the psychological strain end emotional stress of individuals suffering from tinnitus and objective EEG-analysis.

Official Title
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Research Project About Psychological Strain, Quality of Life and Emotional Awareness in Patients With Tinnitus

Conditions
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Tinnitus

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: observational research


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion criteria: all patients older than 18 years with tinnitus who want to participate the investigation during the period of data acquisition Exclusion criteria: patients younger than 18 years, insufficient knowledge of the German language.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Other: observational research|It is a observational research, no intervention are performed|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Values of PRISM | measures the burden of suffering | 4 weeks | 
| TAS | Alexithymia- measured with TAS-toronto alexithymia scale; measures ability to identify feelings, describe feeling, and style of thinking | 4 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Quality of life (SF-36), perceived grade of tinnitus (THI, TF, TBF-12) and the clinical characteristic of tinnitus. | composite outcome | 4 weeks | 
| comorbidities | measured with BAI , BDI | 4 weeks | 
| Tinnitus functional index (TFI) perceived grade of tinnitus | Composite outcome | 4 weeks |