Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 19;19(6):3661. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063661.
This study investigates the relationship between listening effort and acute tinnitus over the clinical course of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) before and after treatment. Thirty SSNHL patients with acute tinnitus were enrolled in this prospective study. Each patient was evaluated before treatment and after 1 and 3 months of follow-up. Listening effort was evaluated in the unaffected ears in two conditions (with and without background noise) using a dual-task paradigm, which included a primary (speech recognition) task and a secondary (visual reaction time) task. Tinnitus severity was assessed with the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). It was observed that background noise significantly increased listening effort in SSNHL patients with acute tinnitus before and after treatment. THI scores and listening effort in quiet conditions (** = 0.009) were significantly decreased three months after treatment. In an analysis of the relation between tinnitus severity and listening effort, it was found that the THI total score was significantly correlated with listening effort in quiet (* = 0.0388) and noisy conditions (* = 0.044) before treatment. We concluded that SSNHL patients with acute tinnitus exerted greater listening effort in the presence of background noise than in quiet conditions. Furthermore, listening effort was reduced as tinnitus improved in SSNHL patients during the three months after treatment. Both before and after 3 months of treatment, patients who were more affected and emotionally distressed by tinnitus tended to exert more listening effort in both quiet and noisy environments.
本研究旨在探讨突发性聋（SSNHL）治疗前后急性耳鸣患者的听力努力与耳鸣的关系。本前瞻性研究纳入了 30 例急性耳鸣的 SSNHL 患者。每位患者在治疗前及治疗后 1 个月和 3 个月进行评估。采用双任务范式评估未受影响耳在有（含背景噪声）和无背景噪声条件下的听力努力，双任务范式包括主要任务（言语识别）和次要任务（视觉反应时间）。使用耳鸣残疾量表（THI）评估耳鸣严重程度。结果发现，治疗前后急性耳鸣的 SSNHL 患者在有背景噪声时听力努力显著增加。治疗 3 个月后，THI 评分和安静环境下的听力努力（** = 0.009）显著降低。在分析耳鸣严重程度与听力努力的关系时，发现治疗前 THI 总分与安静（* = 0.0388）和噪声环境下（* = 0.044）的听力努力显著相关。研究结果表明，与安静环境相比，急性耳鸣的 SSNHL 患者在有背景噪声时需要付出更多的听力努力。此外，在治疗后 3 个月内，随着耳鸣的改善，SSNHL 患者的听力努力降低。在治疗前后，受耳鸣影响更大且情绪困扰更严重的患者在安静和噪声环境中都倾向于付出更多的听力努力。
