Background Sound therapy is generally considered as an effective method for relieving tinnitus. There have been various reports on the effects of tinnitus interventions involving sound therapy as a component; however, there have been only a small number of reports on the effects of sound therapy itself on tinnitus. Purpose The aim of the study is to elucidate whether sound therapy significantly improves tinnitus as determined by subjective measurements. Research Design Prospective study involves within-subject (baseline, 3-month, 6-month) measurements. Study Sample This includes 16 adults with subjective and sensorineural tinnitus. Intervention Participants undertook sound therapy for 3 hours a day for 6 months. The level of stimulus for sound therapy was set to the mixing point of each participant. No counseling was provided. Data Collection and Analysis Participants rated the visual analog scale for loudness and annoyance using a numeric 0 to 100 point scale and completed the Korean version of the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire at the baseline, 3-month, and 6-month time points. Results Sound therapy led to significant improvements of tinnitus in participants in all subjective measurements. Significant effects were found not only between the baseline and 3-month but also between the 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. Conclusion Results of the present study showed that the sound therapy alone led to significant improvements of tinnitus in participants as assessed by subjective measurements. To improve the effects of sound therapy, consistent sound therapy may be required for a certain period of time such as 3 hours a day over a 6-month period.
Background and ObjectivesClear speech is an effective communication strategy used in difficult listening situations that draws on techniques such as accurate articulation, a slow speech rate, and the inclusion of pauses. Although too slow speech and improperly amplified spectral information can deteriorate overall speech intelligibility, certain amplitude of increments of the mid-frequency bands (1 to 3 dB) and around 50% slower speech rates of clear speech, when compared to those in conversational speech, were reported as factors that can improve speech intelligibility positively. The purpose of this study was to identify whether amplitude increments of mid-frequency areas and slower speech rates were evident in Korean clear speech as they were in English clear speech.Subjects and MethodsTo compare the acoustic characteristics of the two methods of speech production, the voices of 60 participants were recorded during conversational speech and then again during clear speech using a standardized sentence material.ResultsThe speech rate and longterm average speech spectrum (LTASS) were analyzed and compared. Speech rates for clear speech were slower than those for conversational speech. Increased amplitudes in the mid-frequency bands were evident for the LTASS of clear speech.ConclusionsThe observed differences in the acoustic characteristics between the two types of speech production suggest that Korean clear speech can be an effective communication strategy to improve speech intelligibility.
Tinnitus refers to the perception of ringing sounds in the ear that are not heard by others. Counseling plays a vital role in tinnitus intervention. Counseling provides correct information about tinnitus and hearing loss, corrects any misunderstandings related to tinnitus, and suggests precise alternative interventions for tinnitus. In this review, we aimed to examine the counseling contents in Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Tinnitus Activities Treatment (TAT) to identify information that could be useful for counseling approaches and contents for the various tinnitus intervention methods. We searched Web of Science, Embase, Science Direct, and PubMed for relevant articles. Of the 5,283 articles, 31 were included in the final review of counseling contents for TRT, CBT, and TAT. Based on our findings, we were able to summarize the main contents of counseling in TRT, CBT, and TAT. Although the contents of counseling may vary depending on the individuals with tinnitus, our review provided information that may help audiologists or hearing professionals further understand the fundamentals of counseling for each tinnitus intervention. Our review may serve as a guideline for tinnitus counseling according to tinnitus interventions.
Purpose: This study aimed to identify the effects of sound therapy according to various types of stimuli for 3 months in people with chronic tinnitus.Methods: Fifty-eight participants with chronic tinnitus based on inclusive and exclusive criteria were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: broadband noise group, nature sound group, and music sound group. Each group received sound therapy for 3 months and the level of stimulus was set to the level of the mixing point. To measure the change in participants’ tinnitus, the Korean version of the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire (K-TPFQ) was used at the initial and 3-month follow-up sessions.Results: In the mixed model analysis of variance, the main effects of time were significant in almost all the K-TPFQ categories, except for the hearing category. However, the main effect of groups was not significant in most of the K-TPFQ categories, except for the sleep category. The main effects of interaction with group × time were not significant.Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that sound therapy for 3 months could be effective in the management of tinnitus. However, no difference in the effect of sound therapy according to the type of stimuli was noted. These results show that sound therapy could be an effective method for people with tinnitus, regardless of the type of stimulus.
The purpose of the current study was to identify tinnitus rehabilitation effects using partial masking with nature sounds. Methods: Nineteen people who had chronic subjective tinnitus participated in this study. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of two groups: counselling and sound therapy using nature sounds or counselling and sound therapy using broadband noise (BBN). Two types of nature sounds were used: the sound of waves and the water of a stream. The partial masking was applied to the sound therapy in both groups and the rehabilitation period was three months. The Tinnitus Handicap Index was administered before and after the rehabilitation. Results: The average decrease in tinnitus as shown by the questionnaire was 15.92% for the nature sound therapy group and 8.43% for the BBN therapy group. Statistical significance was observed only in the nature sound therapy group (p < 0.05). For effect size (Cohen's d) of the tinnitus rehabilitation, the nature sound therapy group was 1.03 (large effect) and the BBN therapy group was 0.58 (moderate effect). Conclusion: Results of the current study showed that sound therapy using nature sounds was more effective than sound therapy using BBN in a short period of tinnitus rehabilitation. Although further studies are required, results of the current study indicate that the effect of the tinnitus rehabilitation may differ, depending on the characteristics of the sound stimulus.
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