About 5-15% of the general population experience a chronic ringing, buzzing, hissing or roaring sound in one or two ears, without any external source. This so-called tinnitus can be present in people with normal hearing, but often coexists with hearing loss. Most people suffering from tinnitus can cope with it, however a minority experiences emotional distress or cognitive dysfunction as a result of the tinnitus, called tinnitus disorder. People suffering from tinnitus disorder regularly complain about an increased experienced effort when listening to speech or other sounds in daily life situations. As this has never been proven scientifically, the investigators aim to evaluate the effect of the tinnitus percept and tinnitus disorder on experienced listening effort by comparing listening effort between a population with tinnitus disorder and a population without tinnitus.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
80
The control group will perform speech perception tests and listening effort tests in the absence and presence of a simulated tinnitus percept using a bone vibrator.
Maastricht UMC+
Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
RECRUITINGListening effort
Subjective listening effort as a function of the speech reception threshold (SRT)
Time frame: 1 day
Listening effort predictability of tinnitus related questionnaire: TQ
Relative importance of sub scales of tinnitus related questionnaires for predicting the amount of listening effort in tinnitus patients: Tinnitus Questionnaire (score 0-84, higher score = more tinnitus disorder)
Time frame: 1 day
Listening effort predictability of tinnitus related questionnaire: TFI
Relative importance of sub scales of tinnitus related questionnaires for predicting the amount of listening effort in tinnitus patients: Tinnitus Functional Index (score 0-100, higher score = more negative impact of tinnitus)
Time frame: 1 day
Listening effort predictability of tinnitus related questionnaire: HADS
Relative importance of sub scales of tinnitus related questionnaires for predicting the amount of listening effort in tinnitus patients: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (score 0-21, higher score = more anxiety and/or depression)
Time frame: 1 day
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