Does the tinnitus pitch correlate with the frequency of hearing loss?

Abstract

Background

The tonotopic model of tinnitus claims that the tinnitus pitch corresponds to the audiometric edge; the homeostatic model suggests that it falls within the hearing loss (HL) area. The existing evidence mostly supports the homeostatic model, but the relationship between the tinnitus pitch and the HL frequencies has been insufficiently explored.

Aims/objective

To investigate the association between the tinnitus pitch and the audiometric profile in the largest study population to date.

Materials and methods

Three hundred and ninety-three patients with tonal or narrow-band tinnitus participated. HL frequencies included 30, 40, 50 (F50), 60 dB, and maximum HL. We defined edge frequencies in four different ways according to the existing studies. We assessed the association between all estimated frequencies and the tinnitus pitch using t-tests, Spearman’s correlation, and multiple regression.

Results

All calculated frequencies differed significantly from the tinnitus pitch except for F50. None were correlated with the tinnitus pitch. F50 was the only significant predictor among the estimated frequencies in multiple regression.

Conclusions

The tinnitus pitch fell within the HL area, and was mildly associated with F50.

Significance

Our results support the homeostatic tinnitus model, and provide reliable evidence that tinnitus pitch does not correspond to the audiometric edge.

Chinese abstract

背景：根据耳鸣的听觉模型, 耳鸣音高对应于听力侧听边缘；稳态模型表明它属于听力损失（HL）区域。现有证据主要支持稳态模型, 但对耳鸣音高与HL频率之间的关系尚未得到充分探讨。

目的：调查迄今为止最大研究人群中耳鸣音高与听力状态之间的关系。

材料和方法：共393例同调或窄带耳鸣患者参与。 HL频率包括30、40、50（F50）、60 dB和最大HL。根据现有的研究, 我们以四种不同的方式定义了边缘频率。我们使用t检验、Spearman相关性和多重回归评估了所有估计频率与耳鸣音高之间的关联。

结果：除F50外, 所有计算频率均与耳鸣音高明显不同。没有一个与耳鸣音高相关。 F50是多元回归估计频率中唯一重要的预测因子。

结论：耳鸣音高在HL区域内, 与F50稍有相关。

意义：我们的结果支持稳态耳鸣模型, 并提供可靠的证据证明耳鸣音高与听力测听边缘不相对应。

Keywords:

• Tinnitus
• tinnitus pitch
• hearing loss
• audiometric profile
• edge frequency
• tonotopic tinnitus model
• homeostatic tinnitus model

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation funded by Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technologies of the Korean government (2016M3A9F1941022).