Top

European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology

Published in:

01-11-2010 | Otology

Assessing audiological, pathophysiological and psychological variables in tinnitus patients with or without hearing loss

Authors: Francesco Martines, Daniela Bentivegna, Enrico Martines, Vincenzo Sciacca, Gioacchino Martinciglio

Published in: European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology | Issue 11/2010

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the characteristics of tinnitus both in normal hearing subjects and in patients with hearing loss. The study considered tinnitus sufferers, ranging from 21 to 83 years of age, who were referred to the Audiology Section of Palermo University in the years 2006–2008. The following parameters were considered: age, sex, hearing threshold, tinnitus laterality, tinnitus duration, tinnitus measurements and subjective disturbance caused by tinnitus. The sample was divided into Group1 (G1), 115 subjects with normal hearing, and Group2 (G2), 197 subjects with hearing loss. Especially for G2, there was a predominance of males compared to females (P = 0.011); the highest percentage of tinnitus resulted in the decades 61–70 and >70 with a significant difference for G2 demonstrating that the hearing status and the elderly represent the principal tinnitus-related factors (P < 0.0001). The hearing impairment resulted in most cases of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) type and was limited to the high frequencies; the 72.1% of the patients with SNHL had a high-pitched tinnitus, while the 88.4% of the patients with a high-frequency SNHL had a high-pitched tinnitus (P < 0.0001). As to the subjective discomfort, the catastrophic category was the most representative among G1 with a significant difference between the two groups; no correlation was found between the level of tinnitus intensity and the tinnitus annoyance confirming the possibility that tinnitus discomfort is elicited by a certain degree of psychological distress as anxiety, depression, irritability and phobias.

Jastreboff PJ (1990) Phantom auditory perception (tinnitus): mechanisms of generation and perception. Neurosci Res 8:221–254CrossRefPubMed

Meikle M, Walsh T (1984) Characteristics of tinnitus and related observations in over 1800 tinnitus clinic patients. J Laryngol Otol Suppl 9:17–21PubMed

Axelsson A, Ringdahl A (1989) Tinnitus: a study of its prevalence and characteristics. Br J Audiol 23:53–62CrossRefPubMed

Davis A, El Rafaie A (2000) Epidemiology of tinnitus. In: Tyler RS (ed) Tinnitus handbook. Singular Publishing Group, San Diego, pp 1–23

Heller AJ (2003) Classification and epidemiology of tinnitus. Otolaryngol Clin N Am 36:239–248CrossRef

Adams PF, Hendershot GE, Marano MA (1999) Current estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 1996. Vital Health Stat 10(200):1–203

Quaranta A, Assennato G, Sallustio V (1996) Epidemiology of hearing problems among adults in Italy. Scand Audiol Suppl 42:9–13PubMed

Deshaies P, Gonzales Z, Zenner HP, Plontke S, Paré L, Hébert S et al (2005) Quantification of the burden of disease for tinnitus caused by community noise. http://www.chuq.qc.ca/oms/pdf/TinnitusBackgroundPaper.pdf

Pilgramm M, Rychlick R, Lebisch H, Siedentop H, Goebel G, Kirchhoff D (1999) Tinnitus in the Federal Republic of Germany: a representative epidemiological study. In: Proceedings of the sixth international tinnitus seminar, Cambridge, UK, pp 64–67

10.

Steinmetz LG, Zeigelboim BS, Lacerda AB, Morata TC, Marques JM (2009) The characteristics of tinnitus in workers exposed to noise. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 75(1):7–14PubMed

11.

Nicolas-Puel C, Akbaraly T, Lloyd R, Berr C, Uziel A, Rebillard G, Puel JL (2006) Characteristics of tinnitus in a population of 555 patients: specificities of tinnitus induced by noise trauma. Int Tinnitus J 12:64–70PubMed

12.

Noreña AJ, Micheyl C, Chery-Croze S, Collet L (2002) Psychoacoustic characterization of the tinnitus spectrum: implications for the underlying mechanisms of tinnitus. Audiol Neuro Otol 7:358–369CrossRef

13.

Sanchez TG, Ferrari GMS (2002) O controle do zumbido por meio da prótese auditiva: sugestões para otimização do uso. Pró-Fono Revista de Atualização Científica 14:111–118

14.

Sindhusake D, Golding M, Newall P, Rubin G, Jakobsen K, Mitchell P (2003) Risk factors for tinnitus in a population of older adults: the Blue Mountains Hearing Study. Ear Hear 24:501–507CrossRefPubMed

15.

Sindhusake D, Golding M, Wigney D, Newall P, Jakobsen K, Mitchell P (2004) Factors predicting severity of tinnitus: a population-based assessment. J Am Acad Audiol 15:269–280PubMed

16.

Cai Y, Tang J, Li X (2004) Relationship between high frequency hearing threshold and tinnitus. Lin Chuang Er Bi Yan Hou Ke Za Zhi 18(1):8–11PubMed

17.

Gerken GM, Hesse PS, Wiorkowski JJ (2001) Auditory evoked responses in control subjects and in patients with problem-tinnitus. Hear Res 157(1–2):52–64CrossRefPubMed

18.

Satar B, Kapkin O, Ozkaptan Y (2003) Evaluation of cochlear function in patients with normal hearing and tinnitus: a distortion product otoacoustic emission study. Kulak Burun Bogaz Ihtis Derg 10(5):177–182PubMed

19.

Savastano M (2008) Tinnitus with or without hearing loss: are its characteristics different? Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 265:1295–1300CrossRefPubMed

20.

Weisz N, Hartmann T, Dohrmann K, Schlee W, Norena A (2006) High-frequency tinnitus without hearing loss does not mean absence of deafferentation. Hear Res 222:108–114CrossRefPubMed

21.

Riga M, Papadas T, Werner JA, Dalchow CV (2007) A clinical study of the efferent auditory system in patients with normal hearing who have acute tinnitus. Otol Neurotol 28:185–190CrossRefPubMed

22.

Axelsson A (1991) Causes of tinnitus. In: Proceeding of the fourth international tinnitus seminar, Bordeaux, France, pp 275–278

23.

Johansson MS, Arlinger SD (2003) Prevalence of hearing impairment in a population in Sweden. Int J Audiol 42(1):18–28CrossRefPubMed

24.

Palmer KT, Griffin MJ, Syddall HE, Davis A, Pannet B, Coggon D (2002) Occupational exposure to noise and the attributable burden of hearing difficulties in Great Britain. Occup Environ Med 59:634–639CrossRefPubMed

25.

Fabijanska A, Rogowski M, Bartnik G, Skarzynski H (1999) Epidemiology of tinnitus and hyperacusis in Poland. In: Hazell J (ed) Proceedings of the sixth international tinnitus seminar. The Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Centre, London, pp 569–571

26.

Nicolas-Puel C, Faulconbridge RL, Guitton M, Puel JL, Mondain M, Uziel A (2002) Characteristics of tinnitus and etiology of associated hearing loss: a study of 123 patients. Int Tinnitus J 8:37–44PubMed

27.

Claussen CF, Kirtane MV (1985) Randomisierte Doppelblind-studie zur Wirkung von Extractum Ginko biloba bei Schwindel und Gangunsicherheit des älteren Menschen. In: Presbyvertigo, presbyataxie, presbytinnitus. Springer, Berlin, pp 103–115

28.

Henry JA, Dennis KC, Schechter MA (2005) General review of tinnitus: prevalence, mechanisms, effects, and management. J Speech Lang Hear Res 48:1204–1235CrossRefPubMed

29.

Shulman A (1997) Impairment, handicap, disability and tinnitus. In: Shulman A (ed) Tinnitus diagnosis/treatment. Singular, San Diego, pp 431–447

30.

Zagolski O (2006) Management of tinnitus in patients with presbycusis. Int Tinnitus J 12:175–178PubMed

31.

Møller AR, Møller MB, Yokota M (1992) Some forms of tinnitus may involve the extralemniscal auditory pathway. Laryngoscope 102:1165–1171CrossRefPubMed

32.

Møller AR, Rollins PR (2002) The non-classical auditory system is active in children but not in adults. Neurosci Lett 319:41–44CrossRefPubMed

33.

Eggermont JJ (2003) Central tinnitus. Auris Nasus Larynx 30:S7–S12CrossRefPubMed

34.

Noreña AJ, Eggermont JJ (2003) Changes in spontaneous neural activity immediately after an acoustic trauma: implications for neural correlates of tinnitus. Hear Res 183:137–153CrossRefPubMed

35.

Henry JA, Schechter MA, Regelein RT, Demis KC (2004) Veterans and tinnitus. In: Snow JB Jr (ed) Tinnitus: theory and management. McGraw Hill Press, BC Decker, Lewiston, pp 337–355

36.

Henry JA, Meikle M, Gilbert A (1999) Audiometric correlates of tinnitus pitch: insights from the Tinnitus Data Registry. In: Hazell J (ed) Proceedings of the sixth international tinnitus seminar. The Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Centre, London, pp 51–57

37.

König O, Schaette R, Kempter R, Gross M (2006) Course of hearing loss and occurrence of tinnitus. Hear Res 221:59–64CrossRefPubMed

38.

Dobie RA (2003) Depression and tinnitus. Otolaryngol Clin N Am 36:383–388CrossRef

39.

Andersson G (2003) Tinnitus loudness matchings in relation to annoyance and grading of severity. Auris Nasus Larynx 30:129–133CrossRefPubMed

Title: Assessing audiological, pathophysiological and psychological variables in tinnitus patients with or without hearing loss
Authors: Francesco Martines
Daniela Bentivegna
Enrico Martines
Vincenzo Sciacca
Gioacchino Martinciglio
Publication date: 01-11-2010
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology / Issue 11/2010
Print ISSN: 0937-4477
Electronic ISSN: 1434-4726
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-010-1302-3

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Assessing audiological, pathophysiological and psychological variables in tinnitus patients with or without hearing loss

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 11/2010

Laser safety in head and neck cancer surgery

When, how and why to treat the neck in patients with esthesioneuroblastoma: a review

Book review

A survey of metastatic central nervous system tumors to cervical lymph nodes

Transoral CO2 laser microsurgery for Tis-T3 supraglottic squamous cell carcinomas

Assessment of the impact of altitude on nasal airflow via expiratory nasal sound spectral analysis