What is an impact of hearing aids primarily fitted for presbyacusis on quality of life in patients complaining of tinnitus: a pilot study.

Objective: To assess the secondary effect of hearing aids primarily fitted for presbyacusis and their impact on the quality of life of patients complaining of tinnitus. Design: Pilot case study Study sample: Adults with presbyacusis hearing loss were recruited in the Asker ENT clinic in Norway. Twenty consecutive patients were included in the pilot study. Methods: Twenty patients who were diagnosed with presbyacusis and additional tinnitus by the hearing tests (pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry) and medical interviews were recruited for the study. The level of their tinnitus distress was measured by the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) before and around 2 months after the hearing aid fitting. The results were afterwards statistically analyzed using paired sampled t-tests in Excel. Results: The data showed that hearing aids fitted primarily for presbyacusis can improve the quality of life in individuals suffering from tinnitus (p = 0.001504). In our sample, women showed higher levels of complaints about their tinnitus, compared to men. We found that age was an influencing factor on the outcomes of hearing aid usage for both presbyacusis and tinnitus, as people in this study before the age of 75 benefited less than patients above 75 (p = 0.005). All patients with moderate hearing loss in our sample showed significant improvement in their quality of life in regard to their tinnitus complaint, with a statistical value of p = 0.044. Also, patients with the lower levels of THI (slight and mild) were the groups who had the most clinically significant improvements in tinnitus distress. Finally, while analyzing the answers to all the THI questionnaire questions from the patients who did not show improvements in THI scores, a pattern of having trouble sleeping was detected as the most probable factor. Conclusions: The results showed that hearing aids fitted primarily for presbycusis can have a positive influence on the perception of tinnitus and their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]