Study on the Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) in Patientswith Tinnitus and Hearing Loss and Association withSelf-reported Subjective Questionnaire

The present study aimed to identify whether subjects with tinnitus and hearing loss would tolerate noise poorly than subjects only with hearing loss. This study also evaluated whether the acceptable noise level (ANL) of listeners with tinnitus would be associated with results of self-reported subjective questionnaire. An experimental group (12 subjects with tinnitus and hearing loss) was compared to non-tinnitus control group (11 subjects with hearing loss), whose audiometric thresholds were statistically similar between two groups. Individual ANLs were measured across five types of background noise (1-male, 1-female, 2-talker, 4-talker, and 8-talker maskers). The self-reported subjective questionnaire evaluated individual subjective handicap of tinnitus and relevant depression. Results showed that the experimental group had relatively more annoyance from noise (higher ANLs) compared to control group, regardless of the type of background noise. From the results of subjective questionnaires, we found that listeners who reported more handicap of tinnitus had less tolerance of background noise (higher ANLs). In conclusion, tinnitus may affect subjective capacity to accept background noise while following a target story, and it can be related with subjective handicap from tinnitus.