Investigation of the effectiveness of sound enrichment in the treatment of tinnitus due to hearing loss.

Abstract

In previous animal studies, sound enhancement reduced tinnitus perception in cases associated with hearing loss. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of sound enrichment therapy in tinnitus treatment by developing a protocol that includes criteria for psychoacoustic characteristics of tinnitus to determine whether the etiology is related to hearing loss. A total of 96 patients with chronic tinnitus were included in the study. Fifty-two patients in the study group and 44 patients in the placebo group considered residual inhibition (RI) outcomes and tinnitus pitches. Both groups received sound enrichment treatment with different spectrum contents. The tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), visual analog scale (VAS), minimum masking level (MML), and tinnitus loudness level (TLL) results were compared before and at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in THI, VAS, MML, and TLL scores from the first month to all months after treatment (p<.01). For the study group, there was a statistically significant decrease in THI, VAS, MML, and TLL scores in the first month (p<.01). This decrease continued at a statistically significant level in the third month of posttreatment for THI (p<.05) and at all months for VAS-1 (tinnitus severity) (p<.05) and VAS-2 (tinnitus discomfort) (p<.05). In clinical practice, after excluding other factors related to the tinnitus etiology, sound enrichment treatment can be effective in tinnitus cases where RI is positive and the tinnitus pitch is matched with a hearing loss between 45 and 55dB HL in a relatively short period of 1 month.