Hearing Aids as a Treatment for Tinnitus Patients with Slight to Mild Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Persons with clinically significant tinnitus also may have mild sensorineural hearing loss (MSNHL). The purpose of this study was to describe patients with tinnitus and MSNHL and factors predicting hearing-aid uptake (HAU). We conducted a retrospective chart review with regression modeling of patients presenting to a specialty tinnitus clinic over a 2.5-year period. Stepwise logistic regression on data from patient charts was conducted. Of 133 patients seen, two-thirds had MSNHL (95% confidence interval [CI]: 58.9–75.0; mean age = 53.4 years; standard deviation = 14.5); approximately 50% had severe-to-catastrophic tinnitus. Logistic regression indicated that four-frequency pure-tone average (FFPTA; left) (β = 0.3899, χ ² = 10.96, degrees of freedom [DF] = 1, p = 0.0009) and age (β = 0.1273, χ ² = 4.86, DF = 1, p = 0.0274) were positively associated with HAU; tinnitus severity was inversely related (β = − 1.0533, χ ² = 4.24, DF = 1, p = 0.0395). Adjusting for key variables, odds of receiving hearing aids was 1.14 (95% CI: 1.01–1.27) times higher with every year increase in age, 1.48 (95% CI: 1.17–1.86) times higher per one point increase in FFPTA (left), and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.13–0.95) times less per one point increase in tinnitus severity score. Reasons why HAU was not high for this special sample of young adults with severe tinnitus and MSNHL are discussed; hearing aid treatment requires extensive counseling and follow-up for this population.

Keywords

mild hearing loss - tinnitus - rehabilitation

• References

• 1 Bhatt JM, Lin HW, Bhattacharyya N. Prevalence, severity, exposures, and treatment patterns of tinnitus in the United States. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2016; 142 (10) 959-965
• 2 Chisolm TH, Johnson CE, Danhauer JL. , et al. A systematic review of health-related quality of life and hearing aids: final report of the American Academy of Audiology Task Force on the Health-Related Quality of Life Benefits of Amplification in Adults. J Am Acad Audiol 2007; 18 (02) 151-183
• 3 Kramer SE, Goverts ST, Dreschler WA, Boymans M, Festen JM. International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA): results from the Netherlands. Int J Audiol 2002; 41 (01) 36-41
• 4 Timmer BH, Hickson L, Launer S. Adults with mild hearing impairment: are we meeting the challenge?. Int J Audiol 2015; 54 (11) 786-795
• 5 Donahue A, Dubno JR, Beck L. Guest editorial: accessible and affordable hearing health care for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. Ear Hear 2010; 31 (01) 2-6
• 6 World Health Organization. WHO Global Estimates on Prevalence of Hearing Loss: Mortality and Burden of Diseases and Prevention of Blindness and Deafness. Geneva: WHO; 2012
• 7 Sindhusake D, Mitchell P, Smith W. , et al. Validation of self-reported hearing loss. The Blue Mountains Hearing Study. Int J Epidemiol 2001; 30 (06) 1371-1378
• 8 Davis A, Smith P, Ferguson M, Stephens D, Gianopoulos I. Acceptability, benefit and costs of early screening for hearing disability: a study of potential screening tests and models. Health Technol Assess 2007; 11 (42) 1-294
• 9 Blazer DG, Domnitz S, Liverman CT. Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2016
• 10 Zeman F, Koller M, Langguth B, Landgrebe M. , Tinnitus Research Initiative database study group. Which tinnitus-related aspects are relevant for quality of life and depression: results from a large international multicenter sample. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2014; 12: 7
• 11 Tyler RS, Pienkowski M, Roncancio ER. , et al. A review of hyperacusis and future directions: part I. Definitions and manifestations. Am J Audiol 2014; 23 (04) 402-419
• 12 Tunkel DE, Bauer CA, Sun GH. , et al. Clinical practice guideline: tinnitus. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2014; 151 (2, Suppl): S1-S40
• 13 Sereda M, Hoare DJ, Nicholson R, Smith S, Hall DA. Consensus on hearing aid candidature and fitting for mild hearing loss, with and without tinnitus: Delphi review. Ear Hear 2015; 36 (04) 417-429
• 14 Henry JA, Jastreboff MM, Jastreboff PJ, Schechter MA, Fausti SA. Assessment of patients for treatment with tinnitus retraining therapy. J Am Acad Audiol 2002; 13 (10) 523-544
• 15 Newman CW, Jacobson GP, Spitzer JB. Development of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1996; 122 (02) 143-148
• 16 Meikle MB, Henry JA, Griest SE. , et al. The tinnitus functional index: development of a new clinical measure for chronic, intrusive tinnitus. Ear Hear 2012; 33 (02) 153-176
• 17 American Academy of Audiology. Guidelines for the Audiologic Management of Adult Hearing Impairment. Reston, VA: American Academy of Audiology; 2007
• 18 Kochkin S, Tyler R, Born J. MarkeTrak VIII: The prevalence of tinnitus in the united states and the self-reported efficacy of various treatments. Hear Rev 2011; 18 (12) 10-27
• 19 Mazurek B, Olze H, Haupt H, Szczepek AJ. The more the worse: the grade of noise-induced hearing loss associates with the severity of tinnitus. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2010; 7 (08) 3071-3079
• 20 Shim HJ, Kim SK, Park CH. , et al. Hearing abilities at ultra-high frequency in patients with tinnitus. Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol 2009; 2 (04) 169-174
• 21 Hoare DJ, Edmondson-Jones M, Sereda M, Akeroyd MA, Hall D. Amplification with hearing aids for patients with tinnitus and co-existing hearing loss. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014; 31 (01) CD010151
• 22 Goman AM, Lin FR. Prevalence of hearing loss by severity in the United States. Am J Public Health 2016; 106 (10) 1820-1822
• 23 American Academy of Audiology. Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing devices. Issue statement from the American Academy of Audiology. January 26, 2017. Available at: https://www.audiology.org/publications/over-counter-otc-hearing-devices . Accessed November 8, 2017
• 24 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. ASHA position statement on policy related to over-the-counter hearing aids. February 14, 2017. Available at: https://www.asha.org/News/2017/ASHA-Position-Statement-on-Policy-Related-to-Over-the-Counter-Hearing-Aids/ . Accessed November 8, 2017
• 25 Jastreboff PJ. Tinnitus retraining therapy. Prog Brain Res 2007; 166: 415-423