Investigations of relationships between tinnitus measurement parameters (frequency, amplitude, minimal masking level and residual inhibition) and epidemiological, clinical, audiological and physicosomatic variables

Tinnitus, an auditory stimulation sound that can be heard in ears or head without any external stimulation, is one of the most prevalent autologicalneuroautological symptoms. Age, hearing loss, noise, sex, life conditions and stress effect its prevalance; personality and socio-economic characteristics are also effective on annoyance of tinnitus. Hence, but the questionnaires investigating psychosomatic perception of tinnitus and tinnitus measurement parametres (tinnitus frequency and loudness, minimal masking level and residual inhibition) help evaluation and rehabilitation of tinnitus subjects. This study aims to investigate the relationships between tinnitus measurement parameters and epidemiological, clinical, audiological and physicosomatic parameters. A total of 99 tinnitus patients and 70 normal cases were included in the study. In this study, whole cases filled-up the questionnaires (demografic and clinical informations, TEA, BDA and KF-36) and they were taken under the audiologic evaluations (SSO, loudness matching, pitch matching, minimal masking level and residual inhibisyon). At the end of the study, MMS was found to be correlated with SSO, KAE, KAY, loudness of tinnitus, tinnitus duration, VAS, TEA, BDA and KF-36. Particularly, in the subjects with noise induced hearing loss, it was documented that residual inhibition rate was lower and decrease in residual inhibition was also found to be associated with tinnitus loudness. Tinnitus frequency, loudness, hearing level, noise exposure, presence of balance problems and work stress were found to be associated factors affecting perception and complain about tinnitus. A clear tinnitus related sleep problems were also observed. According to TEA scores, physical functions were found to be affected more than emotional functions. In conclusion; this study determined that depression and anxiety were seen in tinnitus patients much more than normal cases and tinnitus patients? quality of life parameters were effected badly. In addition, there were apparent relationships among tinnitus measurement parameters and epidemiological, clinical, audiological, physicosomatic parameters. Key Words: Audiology, tinnitus, frequency, loudness, minimal masking level, residual inhibition, questionnaire, depression, quality of life.