Global 10 year ecological momentary assessment and mobile sensing study on tinnitus and environmental sounds.

ABSTRACT: In most tinnitus patients, tinnitus can be masked by external sounds. However, evidence for the efficacy of sound-based treatments is scarce. To elucidate the effect of sounds on tinnitus under real-world conditions, we collected data through the TrackYourTinnitus mobile platform over a ten-year period using Ecological Momentary Assessment and Mobile Crowdsensing. Using this dataset, we analyzed 67,442 samples from 572 users. Depending on the effect of environmental sounds on tinnitus, we identified three groups (T-, T+, T0) using Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM). Moreover, we compared these groups with respect to demographic, clinical, and user characteristics. We found that external sound reduces tinnitus (T-) in about 20% of users, increases tinnitus (T+) in about 5%, and leaves tinnitus u

SUBMITTER: Kraft R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11906844 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature