Tinnitus

PhD studentship at the University of Nottingham


August 2017

Lucy Hanscomb has come to the end of her PhD studentship examining the Cognitive Model to deal with the emotional consequences of tinnitus which will ultimately improve patient care. The model shows how people with tinnitus who have negative thoughts about tinnitus are more likely to pay attention to it and experience negative feelings, which can make tinnitus distress worse.  Lucy will present her thesis at the BTA conference.

April 2017 update

Lucy Handscomb has just come to the end of her second year of a part time PhD studentship examining the Cognitive Model to deal with the emotional consequences of tinnitus aiming to improve patient care. The model is showing that people who have negative thoughts about tinnitus are more likely to pay attention to it and experience negative feelings, which both contribute to tinnitus distress. There is also a group of people who perceive their tinnitus to be quiet but ‘check up’ on it a lot, and for these too tinnitus distress is high.

Recently Lucy has been conducting one-to-one interviews with people who have tinnitus about their views of the cognitive model. All 11 interviewees were attending the ‘mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural therapy for tinnitus’ course which takes place regularly at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital in London. To complement these interviews Lucy has just finished holding a focus group with five clinicians who see tinnitus patients to discuss their opinions of the model. Results from both are currently being analysed.

As mentioned previously in Quiet, Lucy has had two papers relating to this study appearing in respected peer-reviewed journals and since then a further paper published. She has also presented preliminary findings at the Tinnitus Research Initiative Conference in Nottingham and at the British Association of Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists in Belfast.

The bulk of Lucy’s data collection and data analysis is now complete. Lucy will spend the final year of her PhD writing her thesis. She plans to present her final results at the International Tinnitus Seminar in Warsaw.





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