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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Can tinnitus be masked by band erased filtered masker? Masking tinnitus with sounds not covering the tinnitus frequency.

In this study, the effectiveness of masking sound not covering the tinnitus frequency was tested against that of conventional masking sound in 117 subjects. Successful masking was observed in 72% of the former and 70% of the latter. There was no remarkable difference between the two maskers regarding the acceptability and intensity. The duration of residual inhibition, however, was smaller in the masker not covering the tinnitus frequency. The masking sound tested could be useful as an alternative when the conventional one is not accepted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Characterization of tinnitus by tinnitus patients.

A questionnaire was administered to 528 tinnitus patients to obtain data on their reactions to tinnitus. Results include a discussion of: (a) population characteristics, (b) perceptual characteristics, (c) the impact of tinnitus on daily life, and (d) etiology. Significant gender differences are also discussed. Tinnitus was not an occasional phenomenon, but was present for more than 26 days per month in 74% of the patients. Other important findings about tinnitus include: (a) Hearing levels at 1000 and 4000 Hz were less than or equal to 25 dB HL for 18% of the tinnitus patients, which suggests that some patients had normal hearing or mild hearing losses; (b) the prevalence of tinnitus in patients with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) was 30% for males and only 3% for females; (c) about 25% of the patients reported tinnitus severity had increased since tinnitus onset; (d) the effects of tinnitus were more severe in patients who reported tinnitus as their primary complaint and in patients diagnosed as having Ménière's syndrome tinnitus; and (e) some patients reported that noise exacerbated their tinnitus, whereas others reported that a quiet background exacerbated their tinnitus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Investigation of tinnitus induced by sound and its relationship to ongoing tinnitus.

Tinnitus was temporarily induced by monaurally presented sound, and its level monitored using a dichotic loudness-matching task. The first experiment found no effect of varying the level, bandwidth, or center frequency of an inducing noise on the level or duration of the induced tinnitus; nor was there any difference when tones or different noises were used to induce tinnitus. The rated loudness of the tinnitus, however, increased with the level and decreased with the center frequency of the noise. The second experiment investigated tinnitus induced by a 1-kHz, 95-dB SPL tone in 53 subjects with thresholds in the normal range, but with varying degrees of ongoing tinnitus that ranged from no discernible sound sensation at all, through an apparently normal but usually inaudible noise or ringing, to constant or near-constant tinnitus. Individual differences in induced tinnitus were found that were related to differences in ongoing tinnitus; for example, the levels of induced and ongoing tinnitus were positively correlated. The results suggest that some kinds of ongoing tinnitus may arise from the auditory process responsible for induced tinnitus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Study on tinnitus masking--an evaluation of ipsilateral and contralateral masking for tinnitus].

In this study, the tinnitus masking curves measured by the ipsilateral and contralateral masking test were evaluated for the unilateral tinnitus cases of following 4 groups; 40 cases without hearing loss, 22 cases with symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss, 12 cases with unilateral deafness, and 70 cases with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Then the characteristics of tinnitus masking curves and central masking phenomenon for tinnitus masking were investigated. Consequently, tinnitus was masked by a masking tone given from nontinnitus ear when it reached at some definite loudness level, in spite of the presence of hearing loss or the degree of hearing loss in tinnitus ear. Then it was suggested to be a influence of central masking phenomenon in the contralateral tinnitus masking.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed1990

Tinnitus. III: The practical management of sensorineural tinnitus.

A weekly tinnitus clinic at University College Hospital, London, has been in existence since 1976. By developing a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the management of tinnitus, we have been able to help the majority of patients referred with severe and disabling tinnitus. We have developed a protocol for the clinical assessment of tinnitus as a disability, and a strategy of investigation and reassurance based on the patient's understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved in tinnitus generation. Most treatment is aimed at bringing about a process of habituation (which occurs naturally in the majority of people experiencing tinnitus over a period of time). Symptom control is required in about half the patients referred, and various techniques are discussed including prosthetic masking devices, psychological approaches, drug therapy and electrical tinnitus suppression.

Combined Modality Therapy↗
PubMed1990

[A multicenter double blind versus placebos study of trimetazidine in tinnitus. A clinical approach to tinnitus].

This multicenter controlled double-blind study versus placebo was carried out in order to determine in which types of tinnitus trimetazidine dosed at 60 mg/day was likely to be of any therapeutical benefit. This trial was conducted over a period spanning 2 months and involved 13 hospital centers. Enrolled were 315 patients presenting with subjective tinnitus. The analysis bore on 290 patients (136 receiving trimetazidine and 154 receiving placebo). Aside from the epidemiological pertinence of this study, results revealed a significantly higher rate of improvement with trimetazidine, as assessed on the basis of subjective clinical criteria, intensity (p = 0.004), periodicity (p = 0.003), and the extent of discomfort (p less than 0.001), as well as audiometric ones. The evolution of the intensity of tinnitus, as measured either by Fowler's comparative scale method or by masking the sick ear, varied significantly (p = 0.007 and p = 0.026, respectively) depending upon whether patients received trimetazidine or placebo. The type of tinnitus which responded best to trimetazidine was recent-onset tinnitus (less than or equal to 2 years) and ischemic disease related tinnitus.

Double-Blind Method↗
PubMed1987

Can tinnitus mask hearing? A comparison between subjective audiometric and objective electrophysiological thresholds in patients with tinnitus.

Very little has been written in the literature about the masking effect of tinnitus on hearing. This possibility arose from the clinical observations of hearing fluctuating with the intensity of tinnitus. To explore this hypothesis, a group of 19 patients suffering from hearing loss and tinnitus underwent a complete audiological evaluation and their audiometric and ABR thresholds were compared. Two other groups who were examined in the same manner, served as control groups. The first group consisted of 19 age- and sex-matched subjects with relatively normal hearing and no tinnitus. The second control group was composed of 8 patients suffering from sensorineural hearing loss without tinnitus. The differences between the subjective and ABR thresholds within each group and between the groups were statistically analyzed. The objective thresholds in the tinnitus group were found to be lower than the subjective thresholds.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[New aspects of complex chronic tinnitus. II: The lost silence: effects and psychotherapeutic possibilities in complex chronic tinnitus].

"Complex tinnitus" is a diagnostic term denoting a disturbance pattern where the patient hears highly annoying and painful noises or sounds that do not originate from a recognisable external source and can be described only by the patient himself. It seems that the suffering mainly depends upon the extent to which the tinnitus is experienced as a phenomenon that is beyond control. Part I reports on an examination of the treatment success achieved with 28 consecutive patients who had been treated according to an integrative multimodal behavioural medicine concept. This resulted--despite continual loudness--in a decrease in the degree of unpleasantness of the tinnitus, by 17% (p less than 0.01) with corresponding normalisation of decisive symptom factors in Hopkins-Symptom-Check-List (SCL-90-R) and Freiburg Personality-Inventary (FPI-R). On the whole, 19 out of the total of 28 patients showed essential to marked improvement of the disturbance pattern. Part II presents a multidimensional tinnitus model and the essential psychotherapeutic focal points of a multimodal psychotherapy concept in complex chronic tinnitus, as well as the parallel phenomena in the chronic pain syndrome.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1990

Tinnitus. I: Auditory mechanisms: a model for tinnitus and hearing impairment.

A model is proposed for tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss involving cochlear pathology. As tinnitus is defined as a cortical perception of sound in the absence of an appropriate external stimulus it must result from a generator in the auditory system which undergoes extensive auditory processing before it is perceived. The concept of spatial nonlinearity in the cochlea is presented as a cause of tinnitus generation controlled by the efferents. Various clinical presentations of tinnitus and the way in which they respond to changes in the environment are discussed with respect to this control mechanism. The concept of auditory retraining as part of the habituation process, and interaction with the prefrontal cortex and limbic system is presented as a central model which emphasizes the importance of the emotional significance and meaning of tinnitus.

Auditory Pathways↗
PubMed1987

Multivariate analyses of tinnitus complaint and change in tinnitus complaint: a masker study.

Multivariate statistical techniques were used to re-analyse the data from the recent DHSS multi-centre masker study. These analyses were undertaken to three ends. First, to clarify and attempt to replicate the previously found factor structure of complaints about tinnitus. Secondly, to attempt to identify common factors in the change or improvement measures pre- and post-masker treatment. Thirdly, to identify predictors of any such outcome factors. Two complaint factors were identified; 'Distress' and 'intrusiveness'. A series of analyses were conducted on change measures using different numbers of subjects and variables. When only semantic differential scales were used, the change factors were very similar to the complaint factors noted above. When variables measuring other aspects of improvement were included, several other factors were identified. These included; 'tinnitus helped', 'masking effects', 'residual inhibition' and 'matched loudness'. Twenty-five conceptually distinct predictors of outcome were identified. These predictor variables were quite different for different outcome factors. For example, high-frequency hearing loss was a predictor of tinnitus being helped by the masker, and a low frequency match and a low masking threshold predicted therapeutic success on residual inhibition. Decrease in matched loudness was predicted by louder tinnitus initially.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Tinnitus. II: Surgical management of conditions associated with tinnitus and somatosounds.

The literature relating to the effects of otological surgery on tinnitus is reviewed. The results of such surgery are often unpredictable with respect to postoperative tinnitus, and ablative surgery may well make the tinnitus worse. The concept of somatosounds (tinnitus arising from outside the auditory pathway) is presented, and the management of some conditions, including patulous Eustachian tube and palatal myoclonus, is discussed.

Deafness↗
PubMed1987

The analogy between tinnitus and pain: a suggestion for a physiological basis of chronic tinnitus.

A new hypothesis is developed concerning the origin of chronic tinnitus. It is based on an analogy between tinnitus and intractable pain, both of their causes being seen in the de-afferentation of nerve fibers. It is suggested that in the control of tinnitus the same interplay exists between large inner-hair-cell fibers, and small outer-hair-cell fibers, provided they are deafferented, that was demonstrated to exist between large and small deafferented fibers of the somato-sensory system in the control of pain.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Tinnitus-induced weight loss in rats. An animal model for tinnitus research.

Growing rats were exposed to noise and/or tinnitus-producing drugs (sodium salicylate, quinine, gentamycin). Growth inhibition or weight loss was absent or significantly lower in the noise-only and salicylate-only/quinine-only groups than in the groups exposed to both noise and drugs. In the gentamycin groups, initially the same trend was found, but general toxicity soon prevailed, leading to heavy weight losses in both groups. The findings clearly favor the hypothesis that tinnitus-induced stress may be the cause for this effect. The experimental set-up thus could serve as an animal model for tinnitus research. In humans, high doses of salicylate or quinine should be avoided in persons exposed to elevated noise levels.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Tinnitus reaction questionnaire: psychometric properties of a measure of distress associated with tinnitus.

The development of the Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire (TRQ), a scale designed to assess the psychological distress associated with tinnitus, is described. Psychometric analyses of the TRQ are examined with a total of 156 subjects in three separate samples. The results indicate very good test-retest reliability (r = .88) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .96). Factor analysis yielded four factors that were interpreted as General Distress, Interference, Severity, and Avoidance. Moderate to high correlations were found between the TRQ and clinician ratings (r = .67) and self-report measures of anxiety and depression (r = .58-.87), but a low correlation was found with neuroticism (r = .27). It is concluded that the TRQ provides a useful index of distress related to tinnitus for subject selection and clinical assessment and has potential as a measure of change in coping ability.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Clinical study of noise-induced deafness. Part 12: Results of tests on cases of tinnitus and evaluation].

For 80 cases of noise-induced deafness, various tests on tinnitus were performed to obtain results as follows. 1) When tinnitus was analyzed by the tinnitus questionnaire, many had bilateral tinnitus all the time, while few noted changes in the tone and loudness of sound. 2) As for the tinnitus frequency obtained by the pitch match test, cases with 4 kHz or more were many, accounting for 81 percent. The average tinnitus frequency was 5500 Hz. The rate of agreement with the frequency for the maximum hearing loss was 55 percent. In cases where the tinnitus frequency was not in agreement with the frequency for the maximum hearing loss, the tinnitus frequency was noted in the lower range of tone than the frequency for the maximum hearing loss. 3) The loudness of tinnitus is measured by the loudness balance test was not more than 5 dB in 86 percent of the cases. 4) As for evaluation on the subjective expression, expressions such as "zee", "keen", "meen" were many. On the pitch-match test, most of tinnitus was of the pure tone but there might be some composed of noise judging from onomatopoeic words. As for evaluation, the subjective expression was considered close to the tinnitus frequency when emphasis is placed on 2 points of evaluation. 5) As for results of the masking test, convergence type and distance type according to the Feldmann's classification were found in many cases. 6) When the tinnitogram was classified into 5 types, the high-pitched tone obliquely dip type and the dip type accounted for 80 percent. The masking inability was noted in 9 percent. The agreement between the lowest frequency for masking in the masked cases and the tinnitus frequency in the pitch-match test was found in 82%, if similar cases are included. This shows that the tinnitus frequency can be found from the masking test as well. 7) A look at the masking level at each frequency indicated that the band noise at 125 Hz might be a sound that can be masked regardless of the tinnitus frequency. 8) The rate of RI appearance was low at 36 percent, indicating that the white noise 80 dB failed to mask tinnitus.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[Study of tinnitus masking by self-recording audiometer].

The tinnitus masking test, in which the minimum masking levels of tinnitus by various pure tones and band noises are measured and used to produce tinnitus masking curves, is one of the methods for evaluating the character of tinnitus. At present, the tinnitus masking test is usually performed using a pure tone audiometer. In this study, tinnitus masking curves were produced using a self-recording audiometer (Bekesy audiometer) in 22 cases of tinnitus, and the basic nature of the tinnitus masking curves from the self-recording audiometer was investigated and compared with those from a pure tone audiometer. The results showed no changes in the masking level, and the amplitudes of the tinnitus masking curves from the self-recording audiometer were observed to be at the tinnitus pitches. The amplitude of the tinnitus masking curve showed a negative correlation with tinnitus loudness as measured by the loudness balance test for tinnitus, that is, the amplitude tended to decrease as the tinnitus became louder. This suggests that the loudness of the masking tone influences the tinnitus masking phenomenon.

Audiometry, Pure-Tone↗