Carmody, NatalieHunter, MichaelEikelboom, Robert H.2025-09-262025-09-262025Natalie Carmody, Michael Hunter & Robert H. Eikelboom (2025) Help-seeking among adults with tinnitus: examination of a tinnitus cohort from the Busselton healthy ageing study, Speech, Language and Hearing, 28:1, 2510775, DOI: 10.1080/2050571X.2025.2510775.2050-571X (print)2050-5728 (online)10.1080/2050571X.2025.251077http://hdl.handle.net/2263/104515SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 1 : Survey Questions. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 2 : Supplementary tables Help seeking and tinnitus.The aim of this study was to examine the help-seeking behaviour of adults with tinnitus and the factors associated with help-seeking. A tinnitus cohort (n = 131) from the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study (BHAS) completed surveys assessing demographic and clinical factors, tinnitus characteristics and distress, health status, and help-seeking behaviour. The study found that of the 131 participants that took part 43.5% sought help for tinnitus. Binomial logistic regression was used to examine the association of health status (Glasgow Health Status Inventory – all purpose (GHSI) total score) and tinnitus distress (Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire (TRQ) total score) with self-reported hearing loss and self-reported anxiety. The results of the binomial logistic regression found that help-seeking was significantly associated with higher tinnitus distress (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.01, 1.07], p = 0.01) and lower self-reported anxiety levels (OR 0.43, 95% CI [0.18, 1.00], p = 0.05). However, no significant association was found between help-seeking and self-reported hearing loss. Whilst increased tinnitus distress can be expected to be associated with help-seeking, lower anxiety may encourage help-seeking or may be barrier to seeking help. Further work is needed to better understand the relationship with tinnitus, anxiety and help-seeking.en© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Help-seekingTinnitusTinnitus distressHearingHealth statusAnxietyHearing lossEar-related disorderArticle