Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
A Study to Measure Effect of Amplification Strategies on Tinnitus
Subscribe/Renew Journal
Tinnitus is a symptom which is highly distressing for many of its sufferers and was poorly understood until recently. The Neurophysiological model provides a logical explanation as to its pathophysiology and treatment rationale. It postulates that amplification devices may effectively decrease tinnitus severity and associated psychological distress, provided that certain recommendations be followed, which is in accordance to the neurophysiological model of tinnitus mechanism. The present study attempted to clinically test these hypotheses in 70 subjects with hearing loss of varying degree and severe tinnitus with considerable anxiety and sleep disturbances. All the patients demonstrated uniform and significant improvement in tinnitus severity (measured by tinnitus severity quotient), anxiety (measured by state-trait anxiety inventory) and insomnia (measured through sleep diary), but with no differences between single and multichannel fittings which demonstrates the clinical efficacy of the neurophysiological model and strongly validates the use of binaural fitting of hearing aids for reduction of tinnitus in patients with concomitant hearing loss.
Keywords
Tinnitus, Amplification Strategy, Psychological Distress
Subscription
Login to verify subscription
User
Font Size
Information
- American National Standards Institute (1969) Specifications for Audiometers. pp. S3.6 New York: ANSI.
- Jastreboff, Pawel J, Hazell, Jonathan WP (2004), in “Tinnitus retraining therapy- implementing the neurophysiological model” Cambridge University Press, 2004, Cambridge.
- H. Bartels MJ, Staal FWJ, Albers. Tinnitus and neural plasticity of the brain. Otology and Neurotology. 2007; 28:178-184.
- Hiller W, Janca A, Burke KC. Association between tinnitus and somatoform disorders. J Psychosom Res. 1997; 43(6):613-624.
- Keles H, Ekici A, Ekici M, Bulcun E, Altinkaya V. Effect of chronic diseases and associated psychological distress on health-related quality of life. Intern Med J. 2007;37(1):6-11.
- Ridner SH. Psychological distress: concept analysis. J Adv Nurs. 2004;45(5):536-545.
- Zigmond AS, Snaith RP. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1983;67(6):361-370
- Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. (1970). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
- Reiss S, Peterson RA, Gursky DM & McNally RJ. Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency and the prediction of fearfulness. Behavior Research and Therapy.1986; 24:1–8.
- Beck AT, Steer RA, & Garbin M G. Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review. 1988; 8: 77–100.
- Bauch CD, Lynn SG, Williams DE, Mellon MW, Weaver AL. Tinnitus impact: three different measurement tools. J Am Acad Audiol. 2003;14(4):181-187.
- Scott B, Lindberg P. Psychological profile and somatic complaints between help-seeking and non-help-seeking tinnitus subjects. Psychosomatics. 2000 ;41(4):347-52.
- Tyler RS, Baker LJ. Difficulties experienced by tinnitus sufferers. J Speech Hear Disord. 1983;48(2):150-154.
- Zangg T, Schechter M A, Fausti SA, & Henry J. (2002) Difficulties caused by patients’ misconceptions that hearing problems are due to tinnitus. In R. Patuzzi (Ed. ), VIIth International Tinnitus Seminar. (pp. 226-228). Perth: Physiology Department, University of Western Australia.
- Brooks DN, Bulmer D.Survey of binaural hearing aid users. Ear hear. 1981; 2(5): 220-224
- Kiessling J. Masking of tinnitus aurium by maskers and hearing aids. HNO. 1980; 28(11): 383-388.
- Gold SL, Gray WC, Hu S & Jastreboff PJ.(1996). Selection and fitting of noise generators and hearing aids for tinnitus patients. In G.E. Reich & J.A. Vernon (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Tinnitus Seminar (pp. 312-314). Portland, OR: American Tinnitus Association.
Abstract Views: 372
PDF Views: 0