Psychoacoustic classification of persistent tinnitus

Publication date: Available online 1 August 2017
Source:Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology
Author(s): Flavia Alencar de Barros Suzuki, Fabio Akira Suzuki, Ektor Tsuneo Onishi, Norma Oliveira Penido
IntroductionTinnitus is a difficult to treat symptom, with different responses in patients. It is classified in different ways, according to its origin and associated diseases.ObjectiveTo propose a single and measurable classification of persistent tinnitus, through its perception as sounds of nature or of daily life and its comparison with pure tone or noise, of high or low pitch, presented to the patient by audiometer sounds.MethodsA total of 110 adult patients, of both genders, treated at the Tinnitus Outpatient Clinic, were enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Otorhinolaryngologic and Audiological, Pitch Matching and Loudness, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Minimum Masking Level (MML) assessments were performed.ResultsIn these 110 patients, 181 tinnitus complaints were identified accordingly to type and ear, with 93 (51%) pure tone (PT), and 88 (49%) noise type; 19 at low frequency and 162 at high frequency; with mean VAS in the PT of 5.47 and Noise of 6.66; mean Loudness of PT of 12.31dBNS and noise of 10.51dBNS. For THI and MML, the 110 patients were separated into three groups with tinnitus, PT, Noise and multiple, with the mean THI higher in the group with multiple tinnitus of 61.38. Masking noises such as White Noise (WN) and Narrow Band (NB) were used for the MML at the frequencies of 500Hz and 6000Hz. There was a similarity between the PT and multiple groups. In the Noise group, different responses were found when NB was used at low frequency.ConclusionClassifying persistent tinnitus as pure tone or noise, present at high or low frequency and establishing its different characteristics allow us to know its peculiarities and the effects of this symptom in patients' lives.



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