Correlation Analysis of Hearing Thresholds, Validated Questionnaires and Psychoacoustic Measurements in Tinnitus Patients

Correlation Analysis of Hearing Thresholds, Validated Questionnaires and Psychoacoustic Measurements in Tinnitus Patients

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between audiometric thresholds, pitch matching (PM), minimum masking level (MML), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in tinnitus patients.

Subjects: 48 patients with tinnitus as the main complaint from OTOSUL, Otorrinolaringologia Sul-Fluminense, Volta Redonda, RJ, Brasil and Centro de Tratamento e Pesquisa em Zumbido, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.

Method: Subjects performed tonal audiometry, Pitch Matching (PM) and Minimum Masking Level (MML) for tinnitus. They also fulfilled the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Data was statistically compared for correlation between audiometric thresholds, psycho-acoustic measures and questionnaires.

Inclusion Criteria:

• tinnitus for more than 6 months
• sensorineural hearing loss
• normal otoscopy

Exclusion Criteria:

• conductive or mixed hearing losses
• A-r, A-d, B and C tympanograms
• tinnitus treatment in the last 6 months
• pregnant woman
• Vestibular Schwannoma