Enriched Acoustic Environment as a customized treatment for tinnitus: A non-controlled longitudinal study

Abstract

Tinnitus is a heterogeneous hearing disorder with no cure at present, but some treatments, such as a combination of counselling and sound therapy, can alleviate the discomfort it causes. The sound therapy efficiency depends on both the type of sound stimulus and the time of exposure. This study describes the fundamentals of a personalized sound therapy that stimulates the auditory system with either continuous or sequential sounds whose spectra are adjusted to the hearing levels of the participants. This sound therapy is called Enriched Acoustic Environment and is assessed in a sample of 137 participants with tinnitus. Tinnitus-related distress relief was clinically relevant and statistically significant for 90% of these patients. This was quantified as a mean decrease of 24.3 points on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. 31% of participants were treated with sequential stimuli and achieved greater relief of distress (29.4 points on their Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score) compared to those treated with continuous sound (69%). According to these results, sequential sound seems to be optimal compared to continuous sound.