Evaluation of the Clinical Benefit of the Hearing Aids Tinnitus Feature.

Evaluation of the Clinical Benefit of the Hearing Aids Tinnitus Feature.

Participants with hearing loss and Tinnitus will wear hearing aids with amplification-only or with an added sound, and have their tinnitus level evaluated before and after intervention.

2 groups of adults with hearing loss and chronic bothersome tinnitus and no experience with amplification will participate in a cross over intervention study with 2 conditions of 4 weeks each: 1. fit with hearing aid (HA) amplification-only, and 2. fit with HA amplification with an added sound, returning to their original unaided condition after undergoing the intervention phase.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Hearing loss
• candidate for hearing aid amplification
• Bothersome chronic tinnitus (3 months+)

Exclusion Criteria:

• age less than 18 years
• normal hearing
• tinnitus presence for less than 3 months
• tinnitus not bothersome enough to warrant intervention
• non hearing aid candidates