Evaluation of stroop test t-bag form performance on normal hearing individuals with tinnitus in the presence or in the non-presence of acoustic stimulus

Evaluation of Stroop Test T-Bag Form Performance on Normal Hearing Individuals with Tinnitus in the Presence or in the Non-Presence of Acoustic Stimulus The purpose of this study is to compare the Stroop test TBAG form (ST-TBAG) performances of the patients with subjective tinnitus in the presence or in the non-presence of Acoustic Stimulus and to determine the effect of the tinnitus on the attention processes by comparing the healthy individuals with the Stroop test TBAG form (ST-TBAG) performances of the patients with tinnitus at the same time. 40 subjective tinnitus patients between the ages of 18-54 (Study Group) and 40 healthy individuals (Control Group) were included in the study. Ear nose threat examination, audiological evaluation, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Mini Mental Test were performed on all the individuals included In the study. Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and tinnitus measurements were performed on the Study Group. Tinnitus threshold, severity, minimal masking level (MML) and residual inhibition (RI) measurements were performed within the scope of the tinnitus measurements. ST-TBAG form was performed on all individuals in the non-presence or in the presence of acoustic stimulus (NB / 75 dB / 1000 Hz). Individuals in the Study Group showed significantly poor performance in the ST-TBAG test in silent medium than the Control Group (p<0.05). The ST-TBAG form performances accompanied by the acoustic stimulus of the Study Group were found to be significantly better than the test performances performed in the non-presence of acoustic stimulus (p<0.05). The ST-TBAG form performances accompanied by the acoustic stimulus of the Control Group were also observed to be better than the test performances performed in the non-presence of acoustic stimulus (p<0.05). As a result, it is detected that the tinnitus negatively effects the attention processes of the individuals with tinnitus. The acoustic stimulus given during the test, suppressing tinnitus as a distractive element, was observed to improve the performance of the ST-TBAG test. The acoustic stimulus, showing positive effect on collecting the attention, was observed to improve the performance of the ST-TBAG test on healthy individuals as well. Keywords: Acoustic stimulus, attention, noise, stroop test tbag form, tinnitus