[The consistency between changes in Mandarin Tinnitus Questionnaire scores and tinnitus treatment outcomes]

Objective: To verify the consistency between changes in Mandarin Tinnitus Questionnaire (MTQ) scores and tinnitus treatment outcomes. Methods: Tinnitus patients attending the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University from September 2020 to September 2021were prospectively enrolled. The tinnitus severity was evaluated by the doctor's assessment, the patient's self-assessment, the MTQ, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Follow-up assessments were conducted 3 to 6 months later to evaluate the severity of tinnitus post-treatment, and information on the interventions received (pharmacologic/non-pharmacologic) and patients' self-reported clinical impressions of their treatment outcomes (tinnitus cured/improved/no change/exacerbated) was collected. Results: A total of 54 tinnitus patients aged (43.5±12.7) years were included, consisting of 16 males and 38 females. There were 38 cases in the medication group and 16 cases in the non-medication group. No statistically significant differences in baseline clinical data were observed (all P>0.05). The proportion of primary tinnitus in the medication group was higher than that in the non-medication group [97.4% (37/38) vs 75.0% (12/16), P=0.023]. The correlation coefficients of MTQ scores at the initial and follow-up visits with doctor's assessment, patient's self-assessment, and VAS scores were 0.679, 0.483, 0.606, 0.774, 0.779, and 0.756, respectively (all P<0.001). The ΔMTQ correlation coefficient with ΔVAS was 0.694 (P<0.001), with a mean difference of 3.704×10^-7 and 95% limits of agreement ranging from -1.534 to 1.534 in Bland-Altman analysis. There were no statistically significant differences of ΔVAS and ΔMTQ between two groups (both P>0.05). Conclusions: MTQ correlates well with the doctor's assessment, the patient's self-assessment, and VAS. Changes in MTQ scores associate well with changes in VAS scores. Additionally, changes in MTQ scores are consistent with the effect of tinnitus treatment.