The Tinnitus Functional Index is a 25-item, 0–100 questionnaire with eight sub-scales:
Intrusive
Sense of Control
Cognitive
Sleep
Auditory
Relaxation
Quality of Life
Emotional.
A drop of 13 or more points between baseline and follow-up is the validated threshold for clinically meaningful improvement (the MCID). Without a baseline, the follow-up conversations have nothing to compare against.
Capture the TFI baseline at intake
If the patient completes the TFI in the Oto app at enrollment, the score auto-populates into the portal — no manual entry needed. If you use a paper form, tablet, or any other method, score it and enter the result in the portal during the visit. Either way, the baseline lands in the portal before the patient leaves.
Look at the sub-scale spread with the patient, not just the total
A TFI of 65 driven by sleep, emotional, and intrusive is a different conversation than a 65 driven by auditory and cognitive. The total gets the conversation going; the spread tells you what to expect the Oto program to move first.
Follow-ups land every four weeks across the twelve-week arc
The app prompts the patient every four weeks: Baseline, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months. Four weeks is your early-direction check; eight weeks confirms trajectory; twelve weeks is the MCID measurement window. The app keeps prompting past twelve weeks too, so patients can keep filling out TFIs whenever it's useful clinically.
At twelve weeks: name "clinically meaningful improvement."
A 13+ point drop is the MCID — the validated threshold for meaningful change. "Clinically meaningful improvement" lands better with patients than a numeric delta. If they haven't hit it, ask about adherence and re-engage rather than disengage.