Assessment of Auditory Temporal Processing in Individuals with Subjective Tinnitus Using Gap Detection and Forward Masking Tests.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate auditory temporal processing skills and word discrimination performance in noise among individuals with subjective tinnitus and normal hearing.

Methods: Fifty-five individuals were included: 27 individuals with chronic subjective tinnitus in the study group and 28 healthy individuals in the control group. Interventions included the Word-in-Noise Discrimination Test (WIND), auditory temporal processing tests (Gap Detection Test [GDT] and Forward Masking Test [FMT]), the Standardized Mini Mental Test for cognitive assessment, and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory to evaluate the impact of tinnitus.

Results: In the GDT and FMT results, both right and left ear values indicated significantly poorer performance in the study group compared to the control group (CG, p < 0.05). A significant difference was also observed between the study and CGs in the WIND test results (p < 0.05). However, when the study group was divided into two subgroups based on the presence or absence of WIND problems, no significant difference in GDT and FMT performance was found between the subgroups (p > 0.05). This may be due to the limited sample size in these subgroups (n = 9 vs. n = 18), which may have reduced the statistical power to detect subtle effects.

Conclusion: Tinnitus poses a significant burden for patients; thus, assessing its impact on daily activities and quality of life is essential.