Internet‑delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for tinnitus compared to Internet‑delivered mindfulness for tinnitus : a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

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Authors

Eimontas, Jonas
Gegieckaitė, Goda
Asaciova, Irena
Sticinskaitė, Nikol
Arcimaviciute, Livija
Savickaite, Dovile
Vaitiekunaite‑Zubriakoviene, Donata
Gans, Jennifer
Beukes, Eldre W.
Manchaiah, Vinaya

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

BMC

Abstract

BACKGROUND : Tinnitus affects around 15% of the population and can be a debilitating condition for a sizeable part of them. However, effective evidence-based treatments are scarce. One recommended treatment for tinnitus is cognitive behavioral therapy which has been found to be effective when delivered online. However, more treatments including mindfulness-based interventions have been studied recently in an attempt to facilitate the availability of effective treatments. There are promising findings showing great effects in reducing tinnitus-induced distress and some evidence about the efficacy of such intervention delivered online. However, there is a lack of evidence on how these two treatments compare against one another. Therefore, the aim of this study will be to compare Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for tinnitus against an Internet-delivered mindfulness-based tinnitus stress reduction intervention in a three-armed randomized controlled trial with a waiting list control condition. METHODS : This study will be a randomized controlled trial seeking to recruit Lithuanian-speaking individuals suffering from chronic tinnitus. The self-report measure Tinnitus Handicap Inventory will be used. Self-referred participants will be randomized into one of three study arms: Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy, Internet-delivered mindfulness- based tinnitus stress reduction intervention, or a waiting-list control group. Post-treatment measures will be taken at the end of the 8-week-long intervention (or waiting). Long-term efficacy will be measured 3 and 12 months post-treatment. DISCUSSION : Internet-delivered interventions offer a range of benefits for delivering evidence-based treatments. This is the first randomized controlled trial to directly compare Internet-delivered CBT and MBTSR for tinnitus in a noninferiority trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION : ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05705323. Registered on January 30, 2023.

Description

AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS : After the publication of trial results, a de-identified dataset will be available from the PI upon a reasonable request.

Keywords

Internet-delivered interventions, Tinnitus, Mindfulness, Tinnitus distress, Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Internet-based CBT intervention for tinnitus (ICBT), Mindfulness based Tinnitus stress reduction (MBTSR), Internet-delivered iMBTSR, Randomized controlled trial (RCT), SDG-03: Good health and well-being

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-being

Citation

Eimontas, J., Gegieckaitė, G., Asačiova, I. et al. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for tinnitus compared to Internet-delivered mindfulness for tinnitus: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. Trials 24, 269 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07299-9.