[Tinnitus counseling in a specialized ambulanz and a attempt to identify relevant "interactional" factors for...

One aim of our large-scale catamnesis was to prove that neuro-otological diagnostics and knowledge are a fundamental prerequisite in counseling, but also that the counterpart, the patient, has to be reached in his or her distress. For this purpose, we had developed an own 6-part scaled questionnaire on the understanding of the counseled and on the feeling of being understood as a patient. Through its evaluation we had hoped to obtain reliable findings with regard to individual effect factors.Therefore we had mailed to 699 outpatients who had been counseled by us. In 295, the hearing findings, the Mini-Tinnitus Questionnaire (TF 12) and the Hospitality Anxiety and Depression Scores (HADS) could be compared at two measurement points at least 6 months apart.While counseling was found to be sustainable in symptom reduction and compliance to implement recommended interventions, no significant single interactional factor in counseling was detected by our examiation after proper statistics were obtained.In the article, the steps taken and corrections made are also pointed out with regard to the appropriate statistical approach, also to point out that primarily clinicians often need the support of trained statisticians.