Hyperacusis can make life difficult for many, forcing sufferers to dramatically alter their work and social habits. We believe this is an opportune time to explore approaches to better understand and treat hyperacusis.

The Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire is valid, reliable, and sensitive and can be used to determine the efficacy of clinical trials.

Purpose-To determine (a) changes in the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire (THQ) for patients using cochlear implants, (b) differences between patients who receive total or partial relief, and (c) identifiable characteristics of those who report tinnitus after implantation.Method-Pre-and postoperatively, 244 adults were administered the THQ when they reported tinnitus.Results-Of the 153 patients who had tinnitus preoperatively, 94 (61%) patients reported total suppression and 59 (39%) reported a partial reduction. In 91 patients who did not have tinnitus before implantation, 11 (12%) reported tinnitus postimplantation. The THQ score decreased from 41% preimplant to 30% postimplant. The largest reductions involved social handicap and hearing. Patients with a more severe hearing loss might be more likely to experience an exacerbation of their tinnitus. We were not able to clearly identify differences between patients who received total or partial relief and the characteristics of patients who reported tinnitus after implantation. Those who acquired tinnitus had the shortest duration hearing loss (5.6 years) and were the oldest (63 years). The average THQ score of patients getting tinnitus was 29%. Conclusions-Most tinnitus patients benefit from receiving a cochlear implant.© American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Contact author: Tao Pan, University of Iowa, Department of Otolaryngology, 21200 PFP, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242-1009. tao-pan@uiowa.edu. Copyright of American Journal of Audiology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAm J Audiol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 December 1. (Demajumdar, Stoddart, Donaldson, & Proops, 1999;Di Nardo et al., 2007; Gibson, Aran, & Dauman, 1992;Ito, 1997;Miyamoto, Wynne, McKnight, & Bichey, 1997;Mo, Harris, & Lindbaek, 2002;Quaranta, Fernandez-Vega, D'elia, Filipo, & Quaranta, 2008;Tyler, 1994;Tyler & Kelsay, 1990). However, reviews by Dauman et al. (2000), Rubinstein, Tyler, Johnson, and Brown (2003), Rubinstein, Wilson, Finley, and Abbas (1999), Quaranta, Wagstaff, and Baguley (2004), and Baguley and Atlas (2007 have questioned the nature of tinnitus reduction by electrical stimulation.Although previous studies have employed categorical ratings of the effect of CIs on perceived tinnitus severity, those data have not addressed specific aspects of benefit, nor have they provided an indication of any gradation of benefit. Other studies have provided category visual analog scales or attempted interval visual analog or magnitude estimation scales (e.g., Newman, Jacobson, & Spitzer, 1996). These metrics have the potential to distinguish between those who receive total relief of their tinnitus and those who receive partial relief. However, no study has attempted to explor...

Hyperacusis can make life difficult in this increasingly noisy world, forcing sufferers to dramatically alter their work and social habits. We believe this is an opportune time to explore approaches to better understand and treat hyperacusis.

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The study was the first of its kind to consider attitudes to ageing and expectations for FP across three cultural groups. Overall an interesting pattern of results emerged suggesting that both Chinese groups remain invested in the concept of FP, whereas the UK sample was not. In contrast, however, the Chinese immigrants and the UK participants were more similar in reporting attitudes to ageing than the Chinese participants who were more likely to endorse a loss-deficit view of ageing.

We studied the relationship between tinnitus pitch and the audiogram in 195 patients. Patients with tone-like tinnitus reported a higher pitch (mean = 5385 Hz) compared to those with a noise-like quality (mean = 3266 Hz). Those with a flat audiogram were more likely to report: a noise-like tinnitus, a unilateral tinnitus, and have a pitch < 2000 Hz. The average duration of bilateral tinnitus (12 years) was longer than that of unilateral tinnitus (5 years). Older subjects reported a less severe tinnitus handicap questionnaire score. Patients with a notched audiogram often reported a pitch or=8000 Hz. We failed to find a relationship between the pitch and the edge of a high frequency hearing loss. Some individuals did exhibit a pitch at the low frequency edge of a hearing loss, but we could find no similar characteristics among these subjects. It is possible that a relationship between pitch and audiogram is present only in certain subgroups.

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