Unification of Treatments and Interventions for Tinnitus Patients - UNITI

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Deutsche Tinnitus-Liga e.V., which supports the study center at the Charité University Medical Center in its search for study participants for the UNITI-study.

We are happy to announce that our manuscript on "Systematic Review on Healthcare and Societal Costs of Tinnitus" has been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) and is available online: 

• Abstract: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/6881 
• HTML Version: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/6881/htm 
• PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/6881/pdf

Our comprehensive review shows a gap in the knowledge about the economic burden of tinnitus on healthcare systems, patients and society. The few available studies show considerable expenses due to healthcare and indirect costs, while out-of-pocket costs appear to be less financially burdensome. Comprehensive health economic evaluations are needed to fill the gaps in current knowledge, using a unified method with reliable and standardized tools.

The UNITI consortium is delighted to announce that of June 2021, Prof David Baguley, Professor for Hearing Sciences at the University of Nottingham and a most renowned researcher in the tinnitus field, will join our UNITI external Advisory Board!

We already thank Prof Baguley very much for his engagement and invaluable input for UNITI!

A special issue on "Novel Treatments and Diagnosis for Chronic Tinnitus" is organised by UNITI members Dr. Winfried Schlee and Prof. Dr. Jose A. Lopez-Escamez. The challenge is to improve the diagnostic procedures of tinnitus and assign the appropriate treatment or combination of treatments to the individual tinnitus patient. With this Special Issue, we want to concentrate on innovative diagnostic procedures and novel treatment strategies that aim to improve the patient journey from diagnosis to the best-suited therapeutic approach for the individual patient. In this respect, research papers on individualized treatment decisions and decision support systems are also strongly encouraged. Original research papers and systematic reviews of high quality are welcome.

On the 15th of April, Prof. Myra Spiliopoulou (Professor at Magdeburg University) had the opportunity to present UNITI project at an event organised by the EU-Hochschulnetzwerk Sachsen-Anhalt and the Nationale Kontaktstelle Digitale und Industrielle Technologien (NKS DIT). During this event Myra presented the success story of UNITI stressing on the following key points: 

Interdisciplinarity, best-of-the-best in the team, common goal, great ambitions, everybody talks the same language, cooperations in place beforehand.

The full presentation is available here.