Vol.100 No.4 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 100 No. 4 April 2007
Comparison of Tinnitus Patients who Continued or
Discontinued Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Mari Ito, Keiko Soma and Reiko Ando
(Nippon Koukan Hospital and Koukan Clinic)
Sixty-three patients (29 men and 34 women) complaining of severe tinnitus were seen at the Department of Otolaryngology, Nippon Koukan Hospital, during a 1 year period (April 2004 to March 2005). Thirty-seven patients (19 men and 18 women) underwent Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) and were followed for more than 6 months after the end of treatment (continued group). The remaining 26 patients (10 men and 16 women) discontinued TRT after one month (discontinued group). We compared the age, type of hearing loss, origin of tinnitus, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, mean hearing level, and tinnitus loudness and pitch match at the time of the first examination between these two groups. One reason for the discontinuation of TRT was thought to be the cost of the Tinnitus Control Instrumentis (TCI). Dip-type hearing loss was observed in many patients in the continued group, while conductive-type hearing loss was observed in many patients in the discontinued group. Regarding the origin of tinnitus, sudden deafness and otitis media were common in the discontinued group. Meanwhile, many of the patients in the continued group had a pitch match of greater than 4 kHz. The VAS score, mean hearing level, and tinnitus loudness were also higher in the discontinued group. These results may help physicians to predict whether the use of a TCI will be effective.
Key words : tinnitus, tinnitus retraining therapy, tinnitus control instrument, discontinued group, hearing level