A mete-analytic review of psychological treatments for tinnitus

Meta-analysis is a technique of combining results from different trials in order to obtain estimates of effects across studies. Meta-analysis has, as yet, rarely been used in audiological research. The aim of this paper was t o conduct a meta-analysis on psychological treatment of tinnitus. The outco mes of 18 studies, including a total of 24 samples and up to 700 subjects, were included and coded. Included were studies on cognitive/cognitive-behav ioural treatment, relaxation, hypnosis, biofeedback, educational sessions a nd problem-solving. Effect sizes for perceived tinnitus loudness, annoyance , negative affect (e.g, depression) and sleep problems were calculated for randomized controlled studies, pre-post-treatment design studies and follow -up results. Results showed strong to moderate effects on tinnitus annoyanc e for controlled studies (d = 0.86), pre-post designs (d = 0.5) and at foll ow-up (d = 0.48). Results on tinnitus loudness were weaker and disappeared at follow-up. Lower effect sizes were also obtained for measures of negativ e affect and sleep problems. Exploratory analyses revealed that cognitive-b ehavioural treatments were more effective on ratings of annoyance in the co ntrolled studies. It is concluded that psychological treatment for tinnitus is effective, but that aspects such as depression and sleep problems may n eed to be targeted in future studies.