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Evaluating psychoacoustic measures for establishing presence of tinnitus
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Evaluating psychoacoustic measures for establishing presence of tinnitus

James A. Henry, Garnett P. McMillan, Emily J. Thielman, Gino Galvez, Tara L. Zaugg, Edward Porsov and Grayson Silaski
Journal of rehabilitation research and development, v 50(4), pp 573-584
01 Jan 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1682/JRRD.2012.05.0090
PMID: 23934876
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
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https://doi.org/10.1682/JRRD.2012.05.0090View
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Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Rehabilitation Science & Technology
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) considers tinnitus a disability. Veterans can claim tinnitus as a "service-connected" disability if the tinnitus is thought to be connected to military service. The VA adjudicates each claim and determines whether reasonable evidence exists to support it. Currently, determining the presence of tinnitus is based on subjective reporting objective measures do not exist. The aim of this study was to develop and document a test for detecting the presence/absence of tinnitus with high confidence. Using our computer-automated, self-guided tinnitus evaluation system, we conducted three phases of testing to compare psychoacoustic measures of tinnitus between participants with versus without tinnitus. Phase 1 measures included loudness match, pitch match, minimum masking level, residual inhibition, Bekesy, and forced-choice double staircase. Phases 2 and 3 measures were chosen based on results of the previous phase. The number of tests and time of testing decreased during each successive phase. Differences were seen between groups; most notably, higher low-frequency loudness matches and higher median pitch matches were observed for participants with tinnitus. Results of this study suggest that further efforts can produce a defined psychoacoustic test battery for identifying the presence/absence of tinnitus.

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22 citations in Web of Science
23 citations in Scopus

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Web of Science research areas
Rehabilitation
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