Tinnitus: How Partners Can Help?

Abstract

Purpose Tinnitus can be distressing for sufferers, but for those who do not have tinnitus, it is difficult to understand what it is like. We attempted to gain an understanding of the knowledge and misconceptions of sufferers and their partners about tinnitus. Method Two different websites were created with surveys, 1 for tinnitus sufferers and the other for their partners. A mass e-mail was sent to employees and students at The University of Iowa inviting people with tinnitus and their significant others to fill out the online surveys. Those with tinnitus were asked to rate how their tinnitus affected their thoughts and emotions, sleep, concentration, and hearing. They were also invited to fill out the Iowa Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire (12-item version; Tyler et al., 2014 ). Partners completed a similar survey that asked how tinnitus affected the sufferer in these domains. Open-ended questions were also included to obtain more specific feedback from the participants regarding their experiences and how tinnitus affects their lifestyle and relationships. Results Two hundred twenty-two replies were obtained from 197 tinnitus sufferers and 25 partners of those with tinnitus. Partners and sufferers were not completely in agreement regarding their knowledge about tinnitus or familiar with the impact that this symptom may have on the sufferers. Sufferers showed more confidence in their hearing ability, regardless of tinnitus, than their partners. Furthermore, sufferers and partners do not generally talk about tinnitus to each other. Conclusion We conclude that both sufferers and partners would benefit from receiving counseling to address many misunderstandings regarding tinnitus and its consequences in their everyday life activities.