Relationship Between Tinnitus Loudness Measure by Visual Analogue Scale and Psychoacoustic Matching of Tinnitus Loudness

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between psychoacoustic matches of tinnitus loudness and tinnitus loudness measured with a visual analogue scale (VAS) in patients with normal hearing and patients with hearing loss. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Patients: A clinical group of 140 adult patients (46.4% women, 53.6% men) aged from 19 to 81 years old who had had tinnitus for at least 6 months were included in the study. The most frequent reported localization of their tinnitus sensation was bilateral (48.6%); 40% experienced unilateral tinnitus; and 11.4% heard tinnitus in the head. Methods: All participants were first asked to complete a VAS to indicate their tinnitus loudness. Hearing thresholds were then determined for each patient at frequencies from 0.125 to 8 kHz; loudness and frequency of the tinnitus were also matched psychoacoustically. Results: Tinnitus loudness measured in dB SL was significantly lower in patients with bilateral hearing loss than in patients with unilateral hearing loss or in patients with normal hearing. Tinnitus loudness measured with VAS was significantly higher in patients with bilateral hearing loss than in patients with normal hearing. In patients with normal hearing there was a relationship between psychoacoustic matches of tinnitus loudness and tinnitus loudness measured with VAS, but this relationship did not hold for the hearing loss patients. Conclusions: The VAS scale for tinnitus loudness does not generally correspond to psychoacoustic measures of tinnitus loudness. It is only indicative for tinnitus patients who have normal hearing.