Short and sweet: Sustained reduction in tinnitus-related distress following intensive interdisciplinary treatment - a five-year follow-up study

Cosima Felicitas LukasDaniela IvansicGerlind SchneiderChristina LemhöferOrlando Guntinas-LichiusChristian Dobel^*

• University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany

Tinnitus is a chronic condition that can cause considerable psychological distress. While clinical guidelines recommend interdisciplinary treatment, long-term effects remain underexplored. This study evaluated tinnitus-related distress over a five-year follow-up period following intensive interdisciplinary treatment in patients experiencing chronic bothersome tinnitus. This cohort study analyzed a representative sample of patients with chronic, bothersome tinnitus (n = 747) who underwent a five-day intensive interdisciplinary treatment, including cognitive behavioral therapy, sound enrichment via hearing aids, ENT and medical rehabilitation diagnostics, and physiotherapy. Long-term follow-up assessments were conducted at an average of five years post-treatment with a response rate of 48%. Tinnitus-related distress was assessed using the Tinnitus Questionnaire. Data were missing completely at random. Tinnitus-related distress was significantly reduced post-treatment and remained stable across follow-up measurements (p < 0.001, d = 1.33), regardless of initial symptom severity (F[10, 1470] = 5.6, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.02). Psychosocial factors explained 47% of the variance in tinnitus-related distress at follow-up (F (4,335) = 75.77, p = 0.000, R2 = 0.47). Sustained improvements in tinnitus-related distress were observed over a 5-year follow-up period after the intervention.. These findings show that chronic tinnitus can be sustainably managed within a brief treatment period, emphasizing the need for personalized, interdisciplinary strategies to accommodate patient heterogeneity.