A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study)
Background Chronic tinnitus is a common incurable condition often associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia and reduced quality of life. Within National Health Service (NHS) audiology in the United Kingdom (UK), no standard protocol currently exists for the treatment of tinnitus. Counselling...
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| Format: | Article |
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Biomed Central
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44356/ |
| _version_ | 1848796898095267840 |
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| author | Taylor, John Hall, Deborah A. Walker, Dawn-Marie McMurran, Mary Casey, Amanda Stockdale, David Featherstone, Debbie Thompson, Dean M MacDonald, Carol Hoare, Derek J. |
| author_facet | Taylor, John Hall, Deborah A. Walker, Dawn-Marie McMurran, Mary Casey, Amanda Stockdale, David Featherstone, Debbie Thompson, Dean M MacDonald, Carol Hoare, Derek J. |
| author_sort | Taylor, John |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background
Chronic tinnitus is a common incurable condition often associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia and reduced quality of life. Within National Health Service (NHS) audiology in the United Kingdom (UK), no standard protocol currently exists for the treatment of tinnitus. Counselling is only available in less than half of audiology departments, and there is no agreed standard for what constitutes tinnitus counselling. There is substantial evidence from systematic reviews for the clinical benefit of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for tinnitus delivered by clinical psychologists or psychiatrists, but no studies have sufficiently evidenced the NHS model of tinnitus care where management is increasingly being delivered by audiology professionals. In a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT), this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of comparing a psychologically informed guidance manual developed to support audiologist management of tinnitus with usual treatment.
Methods/design
Phase 1 consisted of three development stages: (1) a scoping review to generate a comprehensive set of tinnitus counselling components, (2) a Delphi survey involving expert patients (n = 18) and clinicians (n = 21) to establish consensus on the essential core attributes of tinnitus counselling, and (3) incorporation of these elements into a manualised care protocol. In phase 2, following training in a dedicated workshop, the manualised intervention will be delivered by three experienced audiologists across three different sites. Patients (n = 30) will be randomly allocated to receive either (1) psychologically informed management from an audiologist trained to deliver the manualised intervention or (2) treatment as usual (TAU) from an audiologist who has not received this training. Quantitative outcome measures will be administered at baseline, discharge and 6-month follow-up. Qualitative interviews with participating patients and clinicians will be conducted to gather perspectives on the feasibility and acceptability of the manualised intervention.
Discussion
The feasibility of proceeding to a definitive RCT will be assessed via compliance with the manual, willingness to be randomised, number of eligible participants, rate of recruitment, retention and collection of quantitative outcome measures. This research offers an important first step to an evidence-based, standardised and accessible approach to tinnitus care. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:55:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-44356 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:55:17Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Biomed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-443562020-05-04T18:45:56Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44356/ A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) Taylor, John Hall, Deborah A. Walker, Dawn-Marie McMurran, Mary Casey, Amanda Stockdale, David Featherstone, Debbie Thompson, Dean M MacDonald, Carol Hoare, Derek J. Background Chronic tinnitus is a common incurable condition often associated with depression, anxiety, insomnia and reduced quality of life. Within National Health Service (NHS) audiology in the United Kingdom (UK), no standard protocol currently exists for the treatment of tinnitus. Counselling is only available in less than half of audiology departments, and there is no agreed standard for what constitutes tinnitus counselling. There is substantial evidence from systematic reviews for the clinical benefit of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for tinnitus delivered by clinical psychologists or psychiatrists, but no studies have sufficiently evidenced the NHS model of tinnitus care where management is increasingly being delivered by audiology professionals. In a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT), this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of comparing a psychologically informed guidance manual developed to support audiologist management of tinnitus with usual treatment. Methods/design Phase 1 consisted of three development stages: (1) a scoping review to generate a comprehensive set of tinnitus counselling components, (2) a Delphi survey involving expert patients (n = 18) and clinicians (n = 21) to establish consensus on the essential core attributes of tinnitus counselling, and (3) incorporation of these elements into a manualised care protocol. In phase 2, following training in a dedicated workshop, the manualised intervention will be delivered by three experienced audiologists across three different sites. Patients (n = 30) will be randomly allocated to receive either (1) psychologically informed management from an audiologist trained to deliver the manualised intervention or (2) treatment as usual (TAU) from an audiologist who has not received this training. Quantitative outcome measures will be administered at baseline, discharge and 6-month follow-up. Qualitative interviews with participating patients and clinicians will be conducted to gather perspectives on the feasibility and acceptability of the manualised intervention. Discussion The feasibility of proceeding to a definitive RCT will be assessed via compliance with the manual, willingness to be randomised, number of eligible participants, rate of recruitment, retention and collection of quantitative outcome measures. This research offers an important first step to an evidence-based, standardised and accessible approach to tinnitus care. Biomed Central 2017-05-15 Article PeerReviewed Taylor, John, Hall, Deborah A., Walker, Dawn-Marie, McMurran, Mary, Casey, Amanda, Stockdale, David, Featherstone, Debbie, Thompson, Dean M, MacDonald, Carol and Hoare, Derek J. (2017) A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study). Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 3 . 24/1-24/8. ISSN 2055-5784 Tinnitus; Audiology; Psychological intervention; Randomised controlled trial (RCT); Manual https://pilotfeasibilitystudies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40814-017-0137-8 doi:10.1186/s40814-017-0137-8 doi:10.1186/s40814-017-0137-8 |
| spellingShingle | Tinnitus; Audiology; Psychological intervention; Randomised controlled trial (RCT); Manual Taylor, John Hall, Deborah A. Walker, Dawn-Marie McMurran, Mary Casey, Amanda Stockdale, David Featherstone, Debbie Thompson, Dean M MacDonald, Carol Hoare, Derek J. A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) |
| title | A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) |
| title_full | A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) |
| title_fullStr | A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) |
| title_full_unstemmed | A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) |
| title_short | A psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (Tin Man study) |
| title_sort | psychologically informed, audiologist-delivered, manualised intervention for tinnitus: protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial (tin man study) |
| topic | Tinnitus; Audiology; Psychological intervention; Randomised controlled trial (RCT); Manual |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44356/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44356/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44356/ |