Correlation of Tinnitus Loudness and Onset Duration with Audiological Profile Indicating Variation in Prognosis

Sunita Gudwani,Roshan K Verma,Naresh K Panda,Sanjay K Munjal

doi:10.1155/2013/205714

Sunita Gudwani, Roshan K Verma + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/205714

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Abstract

Purpose. Subjective tinnitus has different forms and degrees of severity. Many studies in the literature have assessed psychoacoustic characteristics of tinnitus but hardly any of them had focused on the association of audiological profile with onset duration and loudness perception. The aim of this study was to evaluate existence of any association between tinnitus loudness/onset duration and audiological profile to explain differences in prognosis. Method. Study design was prospective. The sample consisted of 26 subjects having tinnitus, which was divided into tinnitus and nontinnitus ears. Audiological profile included pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, tympanometry, acoustic reflex test, and auditory evoked potentials (early and middle latency). Unpaired t-test was applied to compare two subgroups. Correlation and association between tinnitus onset duration/loudness perception and audiological profile were also assessed by calculating Spearman's coefficient and Fischer exact value. Results. The two subgroups had significant differences for pure-tone and speech audiometry hearing thresholds. A significant association was observed between the high frequency/extended high frequency and tinnitus loudness/onset duration. Conclusion. The changes in hearing thresholds and auditory pathway are associated with an increase in tinnitus loudness and its onset duration. This knowledge would be helpful to differentiate between severity and chronicity of the patients for planning therapeutic management and predicting prognosis.

Highlights

Subjective tinnitus is the perception of sounds by the patient without any physical presence of acoustic stimulus [1]
The psychoacoustic characteristics included tinnitus ear, duration of tinnitus since onset, pitch matching, loudness matching, and residual inhibition of tinnitus. 28% of the subjects had tinnitus in the right ear, 40% had in the left ear, and 32% had tinnitus perception binaurally
Loudness matching showed that 24% of the subjects had faint tinnitus perception ≤30 dB hearing level (HL), 44% had loud (31 to 50 dB HL), 20% had too loud (51 to 70 dB HL), and 12% had extremely loud level (71 to 90 dB HL)

Summary

Introduction

Subjective tinnitus is the perception of sounds by the patient without any physical presence of acoustic stimulus [1]. The perceived localization of tinnitus is reported as from one ear, from both the ears with the same or different intensity, or from inside the head [2]. It might be perceived as a weak pure tone, ringing of bells, shrill birds’ chirping, noise of whizzing air, or loud noise of a jet engine. Subjective tinnitus has different forms and degrees of severity, and the diagnosis has to be made solely on the information provided by the patient [3, 4]. The clinical subtypisation of different forms of tinnitus is an important step towards the goal of individualized promising treatment [6]

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