The out-of-pocket expenses of people with tinnitus in Europe.

BACKGROUND: Despite the high frequency of tinnitus and its impact on wellbeing, little is known about its economic burden and no data to our knowledge are available on out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses. METHODS: In 2022 a survey was conducted on OOP costs of tinnitus. We enrolled 679 participants with slight, moderate and severe tinnitus in Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany and Spain. We estimated annual OOP expenses for tinnitus-related healthcare visits, treatments, medications and alternative medicine practices. Prevalence of tinnitus in the general population, obtained from a representative survey we conducted in Europe in 2017-2018, was used to generalise costs for people with any tinnitus at the national level. RESULTS: OOP expenses were 368€ (95% confidence intervals (CI), 78€-690€), 728€ (95% CI, 316€-1,288€), and 1,492€ (95% CI, 760€-2,688€) for slight, moderate, and severe tinnitus, respectively, with annual expenditure of 565€ for people with any tinnitus: 209€ for healthcare visits, 93€ for treatments, 16€ for drugs, 64€ for hearing supporting systems and 183€ for acupuncture, homeopathy and osteopathy. Individuals with slight, moderate, and severe tinnitus expressed a willingness to invest 1.6, 4.3, and 7.0 times their monthly income, respectively, to achieve complete relief from tinnitus. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers for the first time insights into the OOP expenses incurred by individuals with tinnitus. OOP expenses exhibited substantial variations based on severity status, accounting for more than 17 thousand million€ in the countries considered. In terms of financial burden, these findings align tinnitus to the recognised leading disabilities, including back pain and migraine.

The statistical analysis plan for the unification of treatments and interventions for tinnitus patients randomized clinical trial (UNITI-RCT).

BACKGROUND: Tinnitus is a leading cause of disease burden globally. Several therapeutic strategies are recommended in guidelines for the reduction of tinnitus distress; however, little is known about the potentially increased effectiveness of a combination of treatments and personalized treatments for each tinnitus patient. METHODS: Within the Unification of Treatments and Interventions for Tinnitus Patients project, a multicenter, randomized clinical trial is conducted with the aim to compare the effectiveness of single treatments and combined treatments on tinnitus distress (UNITI-RCT). Five different tinnitus centers across Europe aim to treat chronic tinnitus patients with either cognitive behavioral therapy, sound therapy, structured counseling, or hearing aids alone, or with a combination of two of these treatments, resulting in four treatment arms with single treatment and six treatment arms with combinational treatment. This statistical analysis plan describes the statistical methods to be deployed in the UNITI-RCT. DISCUSSION: The UNITI-RCT trial will provide important evidence about whether a combination of treatments is superior to a single treatment alone in the management of chronic tinnitus patients. This pre-specified statistical analysis plan details the methodology for the analysis of the UNITI trial results. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04663828 . The trial is ongoing. Date of registration: December 11, 2020. All patients that finished their treatment before 19 December 2022 are included in the main RCT analysis.

Pilot study of a smartphone-based tinnitus therapy using structured counseling and sound therapy: A multiple-baseline design with ecological momentary assessment.

Tinnitus affects a considerable part of the population and develops into a severe disorder in some sufferers. App-based interventions are able to provide low-threshold, cost-effective, and location-independent care for tinnitus patients. Therefore, we developed a smartphone app combining structured counseling with sound therapy and conducted a pilot study to evaluate treatment compliance and symptom improvement (trial registration: DRKS00030007). Outcome variables were Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) measured tinnitus distress and loudness and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) at baseline and final visit. A multiple-baseline design with a baseline phase (only EMA) followed by an intervention phase (EMA and intervention) was applied. 21 patients with chronic tinnitus (≥ 6 months) were included. Overall compliance differed between modules (EMA usage: 79% of days, structured counseling: 72%, sound therapy: 32%). The THI score improved from baseline to final visit indicating a large effect (Cohens d = 1.1). Tinnitus distress and loudness did not improve significantly from baseline phase to the end of intervention phase. However, 5 of 14 (36%) improved clinically meaningful in tinnitus distress (ΔDistress ≥ 10) and 13 of 18 (72%) in THI score (ΔTHI ≥ 7). The positive relationship between tinnitus distress and loudness weakened over the course of the study. A trend but no level effect for tinnitus distress could be demonstrated by a mixed effect model. The improvement in THI was strongly associated with the improvement scores in EMA of tinnitus distress (r = -0.75; 0.86). These results indicate that app-based structured counseling combined with sound therapy is feasible, has an impact on tinnitus symptoms and reduces distress for several patients. In addition, our data suggest that EMA could be used as a measurement tool to detect changes in tinnitus symptoms in clinical trials as has already been shown in other areas of mental health research.

The Influence of Diet on Tinnitus Severity: Results of a Large-Scale, Online Survey.

Optimization of dietary intake is an essential component in the multidimensional effort to prevent and manage chronic disease. Recently, demand has increased for nutrition-focused management strategies for chronic tinnitus. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate 10 dietary items for their association with changes in subjective tinnitus severity. A secondary aim was to develop an algorithm to better identify those individuals who might benefit from dietary modification strategies. A total of 5017 anonymous users of the TinnitusTalk forum completed an online survey regarding how various dietary items affected the severity of their tinnitus. Results suggest that, while intake of caffeine [positive effect (PE): 0.4%; negative effect (NE): 16.2%], alcohol (PE: 2.7%; NE: 13.3%, and salt (PE: 0.1%; NE: 9.9%) was most likely to influence tinnitus severity, it did so only for a small proportion of participants and reported effects were most commonly mild. Further, though a classification algorithm was able to leverage participant demographic, comorbidity, and tinnitus characteristics to identify those individuals most likely to benefit from dietary modification above chance levels, further efforts are required to achieve significant clinical utility. Taken together, these results do not support dietary modification as a primary treatment strategy for chronic tinnitus in the general population, though clinically meaningful effects might be observable in certain individuals.

Targeting Hydroxybenzoic Acids to Mitochondria as a Strategy to Delay Skin Ageing: An In Vitro Approach.

Targeting antioxidants to mitochondria is considered a promising strategy to prevent cellular senescence and skin ageing. In this study, we investigate whether four hydroxybenzoic acid-based mitochondria-targeted antioxidants (MitoBENs, MB1-4) could be used as potential active ingredients to prevent senescence in skin cells. Firstly, we evaluated the chemical stability, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity of all compounds. We followed this by testing the antioxidant protective capacity of the two less toxic compounds on human skin fibroblasts. We then assessed the effects of the best hit on senescence, inflammation and mitochondrial remodeling on a 3D skin cell model, while also testing its mutagenic potential. Cytotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity rankings were produced: MB3 < MB4 ≃ MB1 < MB2 and MB3 < MB1 < MB4 < MB2, respectively. These results suggest that pyrogallol-based compounds (MB2 and MB4) have lower cytotoxicity. The pyrogallol derivative, MB2, containing a 6-carbon spacer, showed a more potent antioxidant protective activity against hydrogen peroxide cytotoxicity. In a 3D skin cell model, MB2 also decreased transcripts related to senescence. In sum, MB2's biological safety profile, good chemical stability and lack of mutagenicity, combined with its anti-senescence effect, converts MB2 into a good candidate for further development as an active ingredient for skin anti-ageing products.

Low Sleep Satisfaction Is Related to High Disease Burden in Tinnitus.

Previous studies have shown a high prevalence of sleep disturbances in tinnitus patients. However, no study has yet evaluated subjective sleep satisfaction. The present study aimed to investigate associations of self-reported sleep satisfaction with sociodemographic factors, tinnitus-related distress, depression, and self-reported quality of life. This is a retrospective analysis of 2344 outpatients with tinnitus presenting at a tertiary German tinnitus clinic from 2010 to 2020. Patients who filled in five questionnaires (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ), Major Depression Inventory (MDI), Tinnitus Sample Case History Questionnaire (TSCHQ), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-Bref)) were included. Based on the question about sleep satisfaction in the WHOQOL-Bref, group classification into (I) sleep-satisfied, (II) neither satisfied or dissatisfied, and (III) sleep-dissatisfied patients was performed. Associations between sleep satisfaction and quality of life, depression, tinnitus distress, and tinnitus characteristics were analyzed by group differences and a multinomial regression model with elastic net penalization. A total of 42.38% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with sleep, whereas 40.91% of patients were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with sleep. The remaining patients reported being neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with sleep. Sleep-dissatisfied patients were significantly more burdened in questionnaires on depressive symptoms (MDI), tinnitus distress (TQ, THI), and quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref). In addition, they suffered significantly more often from comorbidities such as headache, neck pain, or temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). The elastic net regression based on sum scores of THI, TQ, MDI, the four domains of WHOQOL-Bref, as well as all individual questions from the TSCHQ was able to classify patients satisfied with their sleep with an accuracy of 79%, 87.8% sensitivity, and 70.4% specificity. The model could not identify patients indifferent with the quality of their sleep (neither satisfied nor dissatisfied) (sensitivity: 0%; specificity: 100%). The accuracy of the model to predict patients dissatisfied with their sleep was 80.7%, with 83% sensitivity and 78.4% specificity. Poor physical and mental health (Domain I/II WHOQOL-Bref) as well as tinnitus distress were the strongest predictors of sleep dissatisfaction. Conversely, for sleep satisfaction, good physical and mental health as well as low tinnitus distress were the strongest predictors. The division into sleep-satisfied and sleep-dissatisfied tinnitus patients allows a very good discrimination regarding disease burden as indicated by depression, tinnitus distress, quality of life, and pain-related comorbidities. Physical and mental health as well as tinnitus distress seem to be strongly related to sleep satisfaction underscoring the concept of "tinnitus" versus "tinnitus disorder", but also the importance of sleep satisfaction as a global health indicator. Moreover, these data indicate the relevance of addressing sleep disorders in the therapeutic management of chronic tinnitus patients.

Daily Contributors of Tinnitus Loudness and Distress: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.

Background: Tinnitus is a heterogeneous condition which may be associated with moderate to severe disability, but the reasons why only a subset of individuals is burdened by the condition are not fully clear. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) allows a better understanding of tinnitus by capturing the fluctuations of tinnitus symptoms, such as distress and loudness, and psychological processes, such as emotional arousal, overall stress, mood, and concentration and how these variables interact over time. Whether any of those variables have an influence over the next day, that is, whether any of these variables are auto- or cross-correlated, is still unanswered. Objectives: Assess whether behavioral and symptom-related data from tinnitus users from the TrackYourTinnitus (TYT) mobile app have an impact on tinnitus loudness and distress on subsequent days. Methods: Anonymized data was collected from 278 users of the iOS or Android TYT apps between 2014 and 2020. Tinnitus-related distress, tinnitus loudness, concentration level, mood, emotional arousal, and overall stress level were assessed using either a slider or the Wong-Baker Pain FACES scale via a daily survey. Three modeling strategies were used to investigate whether tinnitus loudness and distress are affected by previous days symptoms or psychological processes: auto- and cross correlations, regressions with elastic net regularization, and subgrouping within group iterative multiple model estimation (S-GIMME). Results: No autocorrelation or cross-correlation was observed at the group level between the variables assessed. However, application of the regression models with elastic net regularization identified individualized predictors of tinnitus loudness and distress for most participants, with the models including contemporaneous and lagged information from the previous day. S-GIMME corroborated these findings by identifying individualized predictors of tinnitus loudness and distress from the previous day. Discussion: We showed that tinnitus loudness and tinnitus distress are affected by the contemporaneous and lagged dynamics of behavioral and emotional processes measured through EMA. These effects were seen at the group, and individual levels. The relevance EMA and the implications of the insights derived from it for tinnitus care are discussed, especially considering current trends toward the individualization of tinnitus care.

Juxtaposing Medical Centers Using Different Questionnaires Through Score Predictors.

Background: Chronic tinnitus is a clinically multidimensional phenomenon that entails audiological, psychological and somatosensory components. Previous research has demonstrated age and female gender as potential risk factors, although studies to this regard are heterogeneous. Moreover, whilst recent research has begun to identify clinical "phenotypes," little is known about differences in patient population profiles at geographically separated and specialized treatment centers. Identifying such differences might prevent potential biases in joint randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and allow for population-specific treatment adaptations. Method: Two German tinnitus treatment centers were compared regarding pre-treatment data distributions of their patient population bases. To identify overlapping as well as center-specific factors, juxtaposition-, similarity-, and meta-data-based methods were applied. Results: Between centers, significant differences emerged. One center demonstrated some predictive power of the patients of the other center with regard to questionnaire score after treatment, indicating similarities in treatment response across center populations. Furthermore, adherence to the completion of the questionnaires was found to be an important factor in predicting post-treatment data. Discussion: Differential age and gender distributions per center should be considered as regards RCT design and individualized treatment planning.

Smartphone-Guided Educational Counseling and Self-Help for Chronic Tinnitus.

Tinnitus is an auditory phantom perception in the ears or head in the absence of a corresponding external stimulus. There is currently no effective treatment available that reliably reduces tinnitus. Educational counseling is a treatment approach that aims to educate patients and inform them about possible coping strategies. For this feasibility study, we implemented educational material and self-help advice in a smartphone app. Participants used the educational smartphone app unsupervised during their daily routine over a period of four months. Comparing the tinnitus outcome measures before and after smartphone-guided treatment, we measured changes in tinnitus-related distress, but not in tinnitus loudness. Improvements on the Tinnitus Severity numeric rating scale reached an effect size of 0.408, while the improvements on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) were much smaller with an effect size of 0.168. An analysis of user behavior showed that frequent and intensive use of the app is a crucial factor for treatment success: participants that used the app more often and interacted with the app intensively reported a stronger improvement in the tinnitus. Between study allocation and final assessment, 26 of 52 participants dropped out of the study. Reasons for the dropouts and lessons for future studies are discussed in this paper.

The Daily Experience of Subjective Tinnitus: Ecological Momentary Assessment Versus End-of-Day Diary.

OBJECTIVE: Traditional methods of self-report assessments are susceptible to bias (i.e., memory, recall, and recency). Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) may curb these biases by repeated momentary assessment of the participant throughout the day. High costs and participant burden may, however, impede the use of EMA. End-of-day diary (EDD) provides an attractive alternative to EMA, though no direct comparison has been performed in the tinnitus field. DESIGN: Four thousand seven-hundred thirty-two data entries were collected from nine participants undergoing cognitive behavioral treatment for tinnitus. Eleven equivalent EMA and EDD items were collected for approximately 3 months. Tinnitus experience (i.e., anger, annoyance, avoidance, distraction, fear, invasiveness, pleasantness, and sadness) and well-being (i.e., anxiety, happiness, and stress) were correlated and means compared (t-tests). RESULTS: All variables presented adequate correlation (r > 0.68) between the EMA and EDD counterparts. Small (<3.9%) significant daily mean differences between EMA and EDD were found for six variables (tinnitus anger, invasiveness, pleasantness, sadness, as well as anxiety and stress) with worse results reported in EDD. CONCLUSION: The small significant effects found may be attributed to the large number of data points. When EMA is not possible or recommended, EDD provides a viable alternative to assess tinnitus experience daily. Further research on the underlying mechanisms of tinnitus experience and recollection is warranted.

Early health system responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mediterranean countries: A tale of successes and challenges.

This paper conducts a comparative review of the (curative) health systems' response taken by Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, these Mediterranean countries shared similarities in terms of health system resources, which were low compared to the EU/OECD average. We distill key policy insights regarding the governance tools adopted to manage the pandemic, the means to secure sufficient physical infrastructure and workforce capacity and some financing and coverage aspects. We performed a qualitative analysis of the evidence reported to the 'Health System Response Monitor' platform of the European Observatory by country experts. We found that governance in the early stages of the pandemic was undertaken centrally in all the Mediterranean countries, even in Italy and Spain where regional authorities usually have autonomy over health matters. Stretched public resources prompted countries to deploy "flexible" intensive care unit capacity and health workforce resources as agile solutions. The private sector was also utilized to expand resources and health workforce capacity, through special public-private partnerships. Countries ensured universal coverage for COVID-19-related services, even for groups not usually entitled to free publicly financed health care, such as undocumented migrants. We conclude that flexibility, speed and adaptive management in health policy responses were key to responding to immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial barriers to accessing care as well as potentially higher mortality rates were avoided in most of the countries during the first wave. Yet it is still early to assess to what extent countries were able to maintain essential services without undermining equitable access to high quality care.

Unification of Treatments and Interventions for Tinnitus Patients (UNITI): a study protocol for a multi-center randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Tinnitus represents a relatively common condition in the global population accompanied by various comorbidities and severe burden in many cases. Nevertheless, there is currently no general treatment or cure, presumable due to the heterogeneity of tinnitus with its wide variety of etiologies and tinnitus phenotypes. Hence, most treatment studies merely demonstrated improvement in a subgroup of tinnitus patients. The majority of studies are characterized by small sample sizes, unstandardized treatments and assessments, or applications of interventions targeting only a single organ level. Combinatory treatment approaches, potentially targeting multiple systems as well as treatment personalization, might provide remedy and enhance treatment responses. The aim of the present study is to systematically examine established tinnitus therapies both alone and in combination in a large sample of tinnitus patients. Further, it wants to provide the basis for personalized treatment approaches by evaluating a specific decision support system developed as part of an EU-funded collaborative project (Unification of treatments and interventions for tinnitus patients; UNITI project). METHODS/STUDY DESIGN: This is a multi-center parallel-arm randomized clinical trial conducted at five different clinical sites over the EU. The effect of four different tinnitus therapy approaches (sound therapy, structured counseling, hearing aids, cognitive behavioral therapy) applied over a time period of 12 weeks as a single or rather a combinatory treatment in a total number of 500 chronic tinnitus patients will be investigated. Assessments and interventions are harmonized over the involved clinical sites. The primary outcome measure focuses on the domain tinnitus distress assessed via the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. DISCUSSION: Results and conclusions from the current study might not only provide an essential contribution to combinatory and personalized treatment approaches in tinnitus but could also provide more profound insights in the heterogeneity of tinnitus, representing an important step towards a cure for tinnitus. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04663828 . Registered on 11 December 2020.

Auricular Acupressure Combined with Self-Help Intervention for Treating Chronic Tinnitus: A Longitudinal Observational Study.

Tinnitus is a phantom sound perception in the ears or head and can arise from many different medical disorders. Currently, there is no standard treatment for tinnitus that reliably reduces tinnitus. Individual patients reported that acupressure at various points around the ear can help to reduce tinnitus, which was investigated here. With this longitudinal observational study, we report a systematic evaluation of auricular acupressure on 39 tinnitus sufferers, combined with a self-help smartphone app. The participants were asked to report on tinnitus, stress, mood, neck, and jaw muscle tensions twice a day using an ecological momentary assessment study design for six weeks. On average, 123.6 questionnaires per person were provided and used for statistical analysis. The treatment responses of the participants were heterogeneous. On average, we observed significant negative trends for tinnitus loudness (Cohen's d effect size: -0.861), tinnitus distress (d = -0.478), stress (d = -0.675), and tensions in the neck muscles (d = -0.356). Comparison with a matched control group revealed significant improvements for tinnitus loudness (p = 0.027) and self-reported stress level (p = 0.003). The positive results of the observational study motivate further research including a randomized clinical trial and long-term assessment of the clinical improvement.

Saúde Pública no Mundo Lusófono: refletindo a partir e para além da emergência da COVID / Public Health in the Lusophone World: reflecting from and beyond the COVID emergency / Salud Pública en el Mundo Lusófono: reflectindo a partir y más allá de la emergencia de COVID

O autor analisa o livro Responsabilidade em Saúde Pública no Mundo Lusófono: Fazendo Justiça Durante e Além da Emergência da COVID, publicado também em inglês, que é resultado de um projeto financiado pela Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) e levado a cabo pelo Instituto Jurídico da Universidade de Coimbra, em parceira com investigadores de outras universidades de vários países lusófonos (Universidade dos Açores, Universidade José Eduardo dos Santos, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Universidade de Macau e Fundação Osvaldo Cruz). A obra enriquece o nosso conhecimento sobre as questões éticas e jurídicas decorrentes da pandemia, com enfoque no que se passa nos países de língua portuguesa. O autor apresenta ainda outros estudos recentes que permitem uma visão integrada deste projeto, no contexto internacional e europeu, lançando pistas de reflexão para futuros projetos científicos, que promovam a tão necessária interdisciplinaridade, também nos domínios da área da saúde pública.

The author analyzes the bookResponsibility for Public Health in the Lusophone World:Doing Justice In and Beyond the COVID Emergency, published in English and Portuguese, which results from the development of a project financed by the World Health Organization (WHO), carried out by the Legal Institute of the University of Coimbra, in partnership with researchers from other universities from several Portuguese-speaking countries (University of the Azores, José Eduardo dos Santos University, Eduardo Mondlane University, University of Macau and Osvaldo Cruz Foundation).The studyenriches ourknowledge of ethical and legal issues arising from the pandemic, with a focus on what happens in Portuguese-speaking countries. The author also presents other studies that allow an integrated view of this project, in the international and European context, throwing cues for reflection for future scientific projects, which promote the much-neededinterdisciplinarity, also in the fields of public health.

El autor analiza la obra Responsabilidade em Saúde Pública no Mundo Lusófono: Fazendo Justiça Durante e Além da Emergência da COVID, publicadaenportugués e inglés, que resulta del desarrollo de un proyecto financiado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), llevado a cabo por el Instituto Jurídico de la Universidad de Coimbra, en colaboración con investigadores de otras universidades de varios países de hablaportuguesa (Universidad de las Azores, Universidad José Eduardo dos Santos, Universidad Eduardo Mondlane, Universidad de Macao y Fundación Osvaldo Cruz).El libroenriquece nuestro conocimiento de las cuestiones éticas y legales derivadas de la pandemia, con un enfoque en los países de habla portuguesa. El autor también presenta otros estudios recientes que permiten una visión integrada de este proyecto, en el contexto internacional y europeo, abriendo víasde reflexión para futuros proyectos científicos, que promuevan la tan necesaria interdisciplinariedad, también en el ámbito de la salud pública.

Corrigendum: Multidisciplinary Tinnitus Research: Challenges and Future Directions From the Perspective of Early Stage Researchers.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.647285.].

Organisation of the State, model of health system and COVID-19 health outcomes in six European countries, during the first months of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.

The time and type of the States' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic varied with the severity of the epidemiological situation, the perceived risk, the political organisation and the model of health system of the country. We discuss the response of Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom during the first months of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, considering the political organisation of the country and its health system model. We analyse public health measures implemented to contain or mitigate the pandemic, as well as those related to governance, resources and reorganisation of services, financing mechanisms, response of the health system itself and health outcomes. To measure the burden of COVID-19, we use several indicators. The adoption of measures, to contain and mitigate epidemic varied in degree and time of adoption. All countries reorganised their governance structure and the provision of care, despite the differences in political models and health systems (ranging from a more unitary and centralised political organisational model-France and Portugal; to a decentralised matrix-Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom). Rather than the differences in political models and health systems, the explanation for the success in tackling the epidemic seems to lay in other social determinants of health.

The role of the State, the private sector and the social sector in the different health political cycles in Portugal.

The Portuguese health system comprises three critical sectors: The State, which intervenes as a regulator of the entire system, and as a planner, provider, and financer of the National Health Service (NHS); the social sector, with a relevant intervention, mainly in continued care; and the private sector, with an essential role in the provision of some types of care. During the last forty years, the State, social, and private sectors' roles have changed either in its definition or terms of the relationship between them. In general, it is possible to identify, and we shall present them in this opinion article, eight political cycles that reflect the political contexts in Portugal, and, consequently, the ideological framework of each cycle.

Multidisciplinary Tinnitus Research: Challenges and Future Directions From the Perspective of Early Stage Researchers.

Tinnitus can be a burdensome condition on both individual and societal levels. Many aspects of this condition remain elusive, including its underlying mechanisms, ultimately hindering the development of a cure. Interdisciplinary approaches are required to overcome long-established research challenges. This review summarizes current knowledge in various tinnitus-relevant research fields including tinnitus generating mechanisms, heterogeneity, epidemiology, assessment, and treatment development, in an effort to highlight the main challenges and provide suggestions for future research to overcome them. Four common themes across different areas were identified as future research direction: (1) Further establishment of multicenter and multidisciplinary collaborations; (2) Systematic reviews and syntheses of existing knowledge; (3) Standardization of research methods including tinnitus assessment, data acquisition, and data analysis protocols; (4) The design of studies with large sample sizes and the creation of large tinnitus-specific databases that would allow in-depth exploration of tinnitus heterogeneity.

The role of the State, the private sector and the social sector in the different health political cycles in Portugal / O papel do Estado, do setor privado e do setor social nos diferentes ciclos políticos de saúde em Portugal

Abstract The Portuguese health system comprises three critical sectors: The State, which intervenes as a regulator of the entire system, and as a planner, provider, and financer of the National Health Service (NHS); the social sector, with a relevant intervention, mainly in continued care; and the private sector, with an essential role in the provision of some types of care. During the last forty years, the State, social, and private sectors' roles have changed either in its definition or terms of the relationship between them. In general, it is possible to identify, and we shall present them in this opinion article, eight political cycles that reflect the political contexts in Portugal, and, consequently, the ideological framework of each cycle.

Resumo O sistema de saúde português é constituído por três importantes setores: o Estado, que intervém como regulador de todo o sistema, como planeador, como prestador e financiador do Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS); o setor social, com relevante intervenção, principalmente, nos cuidados continuados; e o setor privado, com importante papel na prestação de alguns tipos de cuidados. Durante os últimos 40 anos, os papéis do Estado, do setor social e do setor privado mudaram, quer na sua definição, quer nas relações entre eles. De um modo geral, é possível identificar, e serão apresentados neste artigo de opinião, oito ciclos políticos que refletem os contextos políticos em Portugal e, consequentemente, o enquadramento ideológico de cada um deles.

Prolonged tinnitus suppression after short-term acoustic stimulation.

BACKGROUND: Tinnitus suppression following acoustic stimulation is a well-known phenomenon also termed residual inhibition (RI). Some individuals may experience prolonged RI (PRI), which can last for several hours or even days, after a single short-term acoustic stimulation. Exact mechanisms of this phenomenon are unknown and current evidence anecdotal. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our report is to collect, present, and discuss cases of PRI from our studies on acoustic stimulation in tinnitus with the aim to better understand this phenomenon as well as its implications for individualized treatments. METHODS: We pooled cases of PRI from four of our studies with a total sample size of n = 130. The criterion was set on a PRI duration which is at least sustained twice as long as the acoustic stimulation duration. RESULTS: We report a total number of about 5% of all participants experiencing some form of PRI, with rates of 3%-7% across the individual studies. PRI lasted from 20 min up to several days and was induced by the first stimulus in four out of six cases. Four out of six individuals experiencing PRI were female and PRI mostly occurred when acoustic stimuli were matched to the frequency or type of the tinnitus. CONCLUSION: PTS seems to be elicitable in a small subset of tinnitus patients which could inform future individualized treatment options. Future studies should investigate if and how identified factors like stimulus type, position, sex, and chronification grade uphold experimental scrutiny. We propose that the set of methods is furthermore extended with neurophysiology in particular.