Army Hearing Program, U.S. Army Public Health Center, Aberdeen, MD, USA.
Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Int J Audiol. 2021 Dec;60(12):1000-1008. doi: 10.1080/14992027.2021.1909760. Epub 2021 May 24.
Individuals with bothersome tinnitus frequently report their concentration is affected. Given that tinnitus is the leading service-connected disability compensated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it is essential to determine whether tinnitus has a functional impact on the operational performance of Service members. Previous studies demonstrated that people with tinnitus perform more poorly on cognitive tests of selective attention and memory than those without tinnitus. This study aimed to compare performance between participants with and without tinnitus on visually based tests of selective attention (flanker task) and short-term memory (spatial letter location) that were self-administered under three auditory conditions (quiet, broadband noise and speech) using a tablet-based test protocol.
Experimental.
Thirty participants with bothersome tinnitus and 30 control participants, matched for age and hearing loss.
The results revealed a significantly larger flanker effect and shorter memory span in the tinnitus group compared to the control group, consistent with previous studies. Performance accuracy was comparable between the groups.
The results suggest bothersome tinnitus may affect cognitive efficiency more than cognitive performance. The tablet-based protocol has the potential to be implemented clinically as a functional measure of the impact of bothersome tinnitus on concentration.
经常受到耳鸣困扰的个体报告称其注意力受到了影响。鉴于耳鸣是美国退伍军人事务部认定的导致残疾的首要原因，因此必须确定耳鸣是否对军人的作业表现产生了功能性影响。先前的研究表明，耳鸣患者在选择性注意和记忆认知测试上的表现要比无耳鸣患者差。本研究旨在通过基于视觉的选择性注意（侧抑制任务）和短期记忆（空间字母位置）测试，比较有和无耳鸣个体在三种听觉条件（安静、宽带噪声和语音）下使用基于平板电脑的测试方案进行自我测试时的表现。
实验性。
30 名有耳鸣困扰的参与者和 30 名年龄和听力损失相匹配的对照组参与者。
结果显示，与对照组相比，耳鸣组的侧抑制效应明显更大，记忆跨度更短，这与先前的研究一致。两组的表现准确率相当。
结果表明，耳鸣可能会影响认知效率而非认知表现。基于平板电脑的方案具有在临床上实施的潜力，可作为衡量耳鸣对注意力影响的功能性指标。
