A very common complaint among tinnitus patients is that their hearing is compromised by the presence of tinnitus. If the tinnitus could be cured then they would hear just fine. Recently, Oosterloo et al (2020) sought to address this issue.

Using data from the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study on aging, they compared participants reporting tinnitus to those without tinnitus in subgroups stratified for hearing thresholds on the digits in noise test.

The results showed a 0.2 dB difference in persons with and without tinnitus, poorer in persons with tinnitus, and a mild speech frequency (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz) hearing loss.

The finding was statistically significant, but the effect was small and only observed with co-occurring hearing loss.

Overall, tinnitus may create some minor disturbance in speech in noise understanding, but does not cover up a person’s ability to hear.

Reference

Oosterloo B, Homans N, Goedegebure A. (2020) Tinnitus affects speech in noise comprehension in individuals with hearing loss. Oto Neuro, June 4.

Share this

Recent Posts

American Telemedicine Association Publishes New Health Data Privacy Principles

New Federal Resource on Protecting the Privacy and Security of Consumer’s Health Information

Priorities Shape Our Choices

Related Posts

Sleeping Baby

The National Health Service Approves Test to Preserve the Hearing of Newborns

The National Health Service (NHS) is a conglomerate name for the publicly funded health-care system of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, and Wales). Gentamicin is the first-choice antibiotic if a newborn develops a serious bacterial infection. According to the University of Manchester, approximately 90,000 babies a year in the United Kingdom alone are treated with…

Read More
Human AI

Artificial Intelligence vs. Hearing Loss

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in so many facets of our existence. It is disrupting the status quo and challenging previously held beliefs and systems. From the looks of it, AI’s application in the hearing health-care arena is present and growing. AI use in hearing aids, in particular, is garnering attention outside the field….

Read More
Baby Sleeping in Hospital

New Technology: Preventing Hearing Loss In NICU Infants

Electrical engineer Dr. Lichauan Liu of Northern Illinois University (NIU) has designed technology to prevent hearing loss in newborns who are in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). NICUs are noisy places. According to Almadhoob and Ohlsson (2020), sound levels in NICUs range from 7 dB to 120 dB and often exceed the maximum acceptable…

Read More