Development and evaluation of an application for tinnitus identification and intervention

• Grant number: 20/06102-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: November 01, 2021 - October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Maria Fernanda Capoani Garcia Mondelli
• Grantee: Maria Fernanda Capoani Garcia Mondelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: King Chung

Abstract

Tinnitus is a symptom defined in the literature as the perception of sound in one or both ears and / or head in the absence of an external sound source. The Unified Health System does not include a clinical protocol that identifies and offers intervention to the population suffering from tinnitus. The availability of an application evaluated for tinnitus detection and treatment is intended to meet the demand of individuals with the symptom that have a strongly affected quality of life. Therefore, all investments in alternatives that help the development and application of strategies for assessment and treatment of changes presented by individuals to health services become valid, justifying this study, which aims to develop and evaluate an application for identification and tinnitus intervention, developed in the Graduate Program of the School of Dentistry of Bauru - University of São Paulo (FOB USP). Methodology: The application development will be co-directed by Profa. Dr. King Chung, professor at Northern Illinois University, in addition to the support of the FOB / USP Educational Technology Sector along with the Computer Science Technical Section of the same institution. Individuals enrolled in the Speech Therapy Clinic of FOB USP will be selected, complaining of tinnitus and without hearing loss, to use an application for identification and intervention of the symptom. During the initial evaluation, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), full audiological evaluation and High Frequency Audiometry (AAF), psychoacoustic tinnitus measurements will be performed. For the intervention, patients will be instructed to use the application with the identification and treatment steps, with the gamification feature. The research subjects will be evaluated at 3, 6 and 12 months after the initial evaluation. This way, the THI and VAS questionnaires will be applied again at 3 and 6 months after the initial evaluation. And all procedures again within 12 months so that you can correlate the data obtained before and after the intervention. During the final assessment, a questionnaire will also be applied regarding the ease and usability of the application for tinnitus identification and intervention. Data analysis: Data collected during this study will be transferred to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for analysis using qualitative descriptive statistics. For quantitative data, inferential analysis will be adopted. Statistical tests will be used, adopting a significance level of 5% (AU)