The Impact of Hearing Loss on Tinnitus Severity

It is generally accepted that tinnitus severity is influenced by stress and depression (Folmer, Griest, Meikle, and Martin, 1999) while the contribution of hearing loss to tinnitus severity is unclear (Baskill and Coles, 1999). Functional imaging has suggested that the degree of cortical reorganisation following hearing loss contributes to tinnitus severity (Muhlnickel, Elbert, Taub, and Flor, 1998) while more severe tinnitus has also been associated with gently sloping audiograms (Weisz, Voss, Berg, and Elbert, 2004). This study related results for two self-report questionnaires, the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) (Kuk, Tyler, Russell, and Jordan, 1990) and the Tinnitus Severity Index (TSI) (Meikle, Griest, Stewart, and Press, 1995) to audiometric results from 79 patients attending a tinnitus clinic. The TSI did not show a statistically significant correlation with any variables obtained from the audiogram. The Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire score was correlated to aspects of the pure tone audiometry in particular elevated low frequency thresholds were correlated with greater tinnitus handicap. The relationship between hearing loss and measures of tinnitus impact are discussed.