Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Tinnitus

This study examines how useful it is to teach veterans coping skills for dealing with tinnitus, also called ringing in the ears. A psychological intervention, cognitive-behavioral therapy, will be used to teach coping skills even though tinnitus is not a psychological disorder. Participants will be assigned to one of two groups for the duration of the study and will not know which group they are in until the end of the study. One group will receive education about tinnitus. The other group will receive education about tinnitus plus additional ways to cope with problems associated with tinnitus such as sleep disturbance and frustration. Several questionnaires will be filled out by veterans interested in participating in the study. Participants will be selected to participate if their tinnitus is severe and they were exposed to loud sound. Some veterans may not be eligible to participate if they have additional health conditions. About 66 veterans will be enrolled in the study. If selected to participate in the study, veterans in selected groups will attend six weekly group meetings. Participants will then be asked to come back 8 and 24 weeks after the last group to answer more questions about their tinnitus and health. It is predicted that participants who are assigned to the cognitive behavioral therapy group will report a greater reduction in tinnitus severity than the standard care and education controls.


Estimated Enrollment: 66
Study Start Date: February 2009
Estimated Study Completion Date: August 2013
Primary Completion Date: February 2011 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)