Little is known about tinnitus. It is very important that more research is done. This is happening NOW, and YOU can contribute anonymously. Your participation is extremely valuable! The study is intended for anyone who has complaints related to tinnitus. If you follow this link, you will be directed to the questionnaire via a webpage of our research partner ‘Tinnitus House'(*).

When a tinnitus patient meets a general practitioner, an ENT specialist or an audiologist, the usual procedure is to interview the patient with standard questions and to perform a few tests, to determine if the patient suffers from tinnitus. A potential remedy is prescribed, (medication, therapy, devices). In many cases the patient is sent home after the first consult with ‘I am sorry, we cannot help you, you’ll have to learn to live with it’. But – by questioning patients on a much larger scale and in a much broader way than in the relatively brief ENT doctor’s interviews currently practiced, the scope of solutions can be enlarged significantly.

The study is set up to give tinnitus research a new dimension by applying (big) data analysis algorithms and techniques, and includes interviews with thousands of patients. From these patient data characteristic patterns will be derived. When a patient has filled in the questionnaire, he/she automatically receives recommendations via email from the group of patients that they are most similar to. Thus, potential remedies that seem odd or highly unlikely at first sight might become of new importance, when they are supported by the input of large numbers of patients. In a similar way, frequently applied but ineffective therapies can be avoided.

The survey includes questions about how you developed tinnitus, your profession, your lifestyle and diet.

Participation is anonymous. Your email address is kept for communication purposes and is encrypted.  The questionnaire is built in Google Forms. You must therefore use a Google account to participate. This is, for example, your Gmail account or a mail account with which you are registered on an Android phone. If you don’t have either, you can register your private email address with Google. You can also create a separate/new email address especially for this survey.

(*) The idea behind TinnitusHouse is a broad collaboration between researchers, doctors, therapists and aid organizations involved in tinnitus. Participating organizations include TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the University of Regensburg, the BrainInnovations Foundation, the TinnitusFree Foundation, the Hoormij Foundation and individual patients and volunteers. In this broad collaboration, Tinnitus House tries to find answers to all questions about the origin, experience, relief and healing of tinnitus.