Secondary Treatment Benefits Achieved by Hearing-Impaired Tinnitus Patients Using Aided Environmental Sound Therapy for Tinnitus Retraining Therapy: Comparisons with Matched Groups of Tinnitus Patients Using Noise Generators for Sound Therapy

Abstract

Tinnitus patients with hearing loss may use amplified environmental sound from hearing aids (HAs) for the sound therapy (ST) component of tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT). Sizable secondary treatment benefits, namely, incremental shifts in loudness discomfort levels (LDLs) and expansion of the auditory dynamic range (DR) for loudness, have been reported for tinnitus patients who use noise generators (NGs) for ST in TRT. The primary questions addressed in this study are (1) Then hearing-impaired tinnitus patients using amplified environmental sound for their ST also achieve significant secondary treatment benefits and, if so, (2) are these secondary effects of similar magnitude to those measured for tinnitus patients using NGs for their ST? An analysis of patient records in the University of Maryland Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Center (UMTHC) revealed TRT treatment-related changes in the LDL averaged 2.70 dB for a group of 25 aided hearing-impaired tinnitus patients. Corresponding treatment effects for four matched groups of tinnitus patients, who used NGs for their ST, ranged from 5.91 to 10.10 dB. The associated incremental changes in the DR averaged 0.60 dB for the aided tinnitus patients and from 4.10 to 9.23 dB for the matched groups of tinnitus patients who used NGs for their ST. These findings indicate that hearing-impaired tinnitus patients using aided environmental sound for TRT achieve smaller secondary treatment benefits than do tinnitus patients who use NGs for their ST.