Tinnitus is a common and potentially distressing phenomenon for which no broadly effective curative treatment exists. Self-management skills and empowerment are crucial for coping with chronic conditions, but empirical studies investigating the association of these on individuals burdened by tinnitus are scarce....
Online self-help platforms may support empowerment and self-management in tinnitus patients, but this cross-sectional design cannot establish cause-and-effect; audiologists should consider digital support tools as a complement to, not replacement for, structured tinnitus counselling.
With no curative treatment for tinnitus, scalable digital self-management tools that demonstrably improve patient empowerment could fill a major gap in tinnitus care delivery.
- 01Cross-sectional survey of users of an online tinnitus self-help platform.
- 02Measures included empowerment, self-management skills, and illness perception.
- 03Highlights the role of digital tools in chronic tinnitus management where curative options are absent.
- 04Cross-sectional design limits causal inference — selection bias is a key limitation.
- 05Findings are relevant to the growing landscape of e-health and app-based audiology support.
Users of an online tinnitus self-help platform demonstrate measurable levels of empowerment and self-management skills.
studypartially supportedThere is no curative treatment for tinnitus.
guidelinesupported- PMID
- 42278904
- DOI
- 10.3390/jcm15114043.
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 3
- Population
- Adults using an online self-help platform for chronic tinnitus
- Intervention
- Online self-help platform for tinnitus self-management
Primary outcomes
Patient empowerment levels; Self-management skills; Illness perception