Extended high-frequency audiometric analyses of tinnitus patients exhibiting normal hearing on conventional pure-tone audiometry

Abstract

Background

While hearing loss is the greatest risk factor associated with developing tinnitus, some tinnitus patients exhibit no hearing loss on conventional pure-tone audiometry (PTA).

Objectives

This study was developed to assess whether tinnitus patients with normal hearing as measured via conventional PTA would exhibit differences from normal controls upon extended high-frequency (EHF) audiometric evaluation.

Methods

In total, 102 tinnitus patients were separated into unilateral and bilateral tinnitus groups. Age- and sex-matched controls without tinnitus were enrolled.

Results

No significant differences were observed when comparing EHF audiometry results in the 9–14 kHz range between controls and tinnitus patients, with only left-sided tinnitus ears exhibiting higher hearing thresholds than contralateral ears at 9, 10, and 14 kHz. Relative to normal controls, the hearing thresholds in the 2–8 kHz range for tinnitus ears were significantly increased.

Conclusions and significance

Relative to controls, tinnitus patients with normal hearing did not exhibit any significant hearing loss in the EHF range. Unexpectedly, tinnitus patients with normal hearing exhibited significant hidden hearing loss in the conventional frequency range rather than in the EHF range. For patients with normal hearing, it appears to be unnecessary to conduct EHF examinations to detect hearing loss in the EHF range.

Chinese Abstract

背景：虽然听力损失是发生耳鸣的最大风险因素, 但一些耳鸣患者在常规纯音测听 (PTA) 中没有表现出听力损失。

目的：本研究旨在评估通过常规 PTA 测量的听力正常的耳鸣患者是否在扩展高频 (EHF) 听力测量评估中, 显示出与正常对照的差异。

方法：将102例耳鸣患者分为单侧耳鸣组和双侧耳鸣组。招募了年龄和性别匹配的无耳鸣对照者。

结果：在比较对照组和耳鸣患者之间的在9–14 kHz 范围内的EHF 测听结果时, 未观察到显著差异。只有在 9、10 和 14 kHz 时, 左侧耳鸣耳的听力阈值高于对侧耳。相对于正常对照组, 耳鸣耳在 2-8 kHz 范围内的听力阈值显著提高。

结论及意义：相对于对照组, 听力正常的耳鸣患者没有表现出EHF 范围内的任何明显的听力损失。出乎意料的是, 听力正常的耳鸣患者在常规频率范围内而不是在EHF范围内表现出明显的隐性听力损失。对于听力正常的患者, 似乎没有必要进行 EHF 检查来检测 EHF 范围内的听力损失。

Keywords:

• Conventional PTA
• extended high-frequency
• normal hearing
• unilateral tinnitus
• bilateral tinnitus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Project [2019YFC0121302] and the National Key Research and Development Project [2019YFC0840707].