Due to its objective nature, auditory brainstem response (ABR) evoked by complex stimuli has been gaining attention lately. The present study aimed to compare the speech-evoked auditory brainstem response (speech-ABR) results between two ethnic groups: Malay and Chinese. In addition, it was also of interest to compare the speech-ABR outcomes obtained from the present study with the published Caucasian data. Thirty healthy male adults (15 Malay and 15 Chinese) were enrolled in this comparative study. Speech syllable/da/presented at 80 dBnHL was used to record speech-ABR waveforms from the right ear of each subject. Amplitudes and latencies of speech-ABR peaks (V, A, C, D, E, F and O), as well as composite onset measures (V/A duration, V/A amplitude and V/A slope) were computed and analyzed. When the two ethnic groups were compared, all speech-ABR results were not statistically different from each other (p > 0.05). When the data from the present study were compared with the published Caucasian data, most of the statistical analyses were significant (p
INTRODUCTION: The aim of this article was to review the types of psychological interventions for patients with tinnitus, professionals involved in giving the intervention, the effectiveness of each method of interventions and comparisons with non-psychological approaches in treating tinnitus.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed database searched.
RESULTS: Twenty one articles that employed randomized controlled trials design were included. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was the most common intervention conducted by the researchers. Clinical psychologists and trainee psychologists were the most professionals involved in the therapy. The length of therapy ranged from six weeks to three months.
DISCUSSION: Psychological interventions were more effective in reducing psychological impacts of tinnitus than non-psychological interventions such as the use of tinnitus maskers. Nevertheless, the combination of the treatments yielded more superior outcomes.
CONCLUSION: A simplified version of psychological intervention that can be implemented by other clinical professionals should be developed to treat tinnitus holistically to overcome the shortage number of clinical psychologists.