J Am Acad Audiol
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Self-efficacy refers to the beliefs (i.e., confidence) individuals have in their capabilities to perform skills needed to accomplish a specific goal or behavior. Research in the treatment of various health conditions such as chronic pain, balance disorders, and diabetes shows that self-efficacy beliefs play an important role in treatment outcomes and management of the condition. This article focuses on the application of self-efficacy to the management of tinnitus. The first step in formally incorporating self-efficacy in existing treatment regimens or developing a self-efficacy approach for tinnitus treatment is to have a valid and reliable measure available to assess the level of tinnitus self-efficacy. ⋯ The results of the current study suggest that the SETMQ is a valid and reliable measure that may be an insightful instrument for clinicians and investigators who are interested in assessing tinnitus self-efficacy. Incorporating self-efficacy principles into tinnitus management would provide clinicians with another formalized treatment option. A self-efficacy approach to treating tinnitus may result in better outcomes compared with approaches not focusing on self-efficacy principles.
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Comparative Study
Clinical experience with the words-in-noise test on 3430 veterans: comparisons with pure-tone thresholds and word recognition in quiet.
Since the 1940s, measures of pure-tone sensitivity and speech recognition in quiet have been vital components of the audiologic evaluation. Although early investigators urged that speech recognition in noise also should be a component of the audiologic evaluation, only recently has this suggestion started to become a reality. This report focuses on the Words-in-Noise (WIN) Test, which evaluates word recognition in multitalker babble at seven signal-to-noise ratios and uses the 50% correct point (in dB SNR) calculated with the Spearman-Kärber equation as the primary metric. The WIN was developed and validated in a series of 12 laboratory studies. The current study examined the effectiveness of the WIN materials for measuring the word-recognition performance of patients in a typical clinical setting. ⋯ The results on the WIN from both the previous laboratory studies and the current clinical study indicate that the WIN is an appropriate clinic instrument to assess word-recognition performance in background noise. Recognition performance on a speech-in-quiet task does not predict performance on a speech-in-noise task, as the two tasks reflect different domains of auditory function. Experience with the WIN indicates that word-in-noise tasks should be considered the "stress test" for auditory function.