What kind of tinnitus do you have? Key questions for researchers in forthcoming clinical trials!

Hearing specialists and tinnitus researchers have recognised for some time that tinnitus is experienced in different ways by the patients they see. This can include variation in the tonality and apparent loudness of their tinnitus. Moreover, some patients report changes in the apparent loudness over time. Importantly, it is also known that the impact the loudness and quality their tinnitus has on their daily life also varies between patients.

It is now increasingly recognised by researchers that efforts to more carefully define these characteristics of tinnitus should be made when investigating potential therapies for tinnitus.

For example, some patients with a loud, though low-pitched, tinnitus have reported being able to cope with their tinnitus most of the time. Others with a quiet tinnitus, but of a more insistent pitch, have reported more frustration with their symptoms. In some cases, this has included experiencing depression, which, for some, may go on to become a greater problem than the tinnitus itself.

In such cases, being able to define the role of depression in tinnitus patients is of considerable importance, as some of the drugs under consideration for treating tinnitus may exert their primary effect on associated depression as opposed to the generation of tinnitus itself. Consequently, this may form the primary therapeutic effect in some tinnitus patients treated with this class of drugs as opposed to an effect on the actual 'tinnitus generator' itself.

In addition, establishing how variable is the 'loudness' of a patient's tinnitus over time before any treatment could well provide a better baseline from which to judge the effectiveness of longer-term therapy.

Taking into account these and other factors will be one of the primary objectives in ATR-supported trials in Leicester that are scheduled to start this year. In the preliminary phase of this trial, the aim will be to focus on carefully defining the tinnitus of patients in detail before starting any drug therapy.