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. 2010:2010:265861.
doi: 10.1155/2010/265861. Epub 2010 Jun 23.

Investigation of tinnitus patients in Italy: clinical and audiological characteristics

Francesco Martines  1 , Daniela Bentivegna, Fabiola Di Piazza, Enrico Martines, Vincenzo Sciacca, Gioacchino Martinciglio
Affiliations

Investigation of tinnitus patients in Italy: clinical and audiological characteristics

Francesco Martines et al. Int J Otolaryngol. 2010.

Abstract

Objective. 312 tinnitus sufferers were studied in order to analyze: the clinical characteristics of tinnitus; the presence of tinnitus-age correlation and tinnitus-hearing loss correlation; the impact of tinnitus on subjects' life and where possible the etiological/predisposing factors of tinnitus. Results. There is a slight predominance of males. The highest percentage of tinnitus results in the decades 61-70. Of the tinnitus sufferers, 197 (63.14%) have a hearing deficit (light hearing loss in 37.18% of cases). The hearing impairment results of sensorineural type in 74.62% and limited to the high frequencies in 58.50%. The tinnitus is referred as unilateral in 59.93%, a pure tone in 66.99% and 10 dB above the hearing threshold in 37.7%. It is limited to high frequencies in 72.10% of the patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) while the 88.37% of the patients with high-frequency SNHL have a high-pitched tinnitus (chi(2) = 66.26;P < .005). Conclusion. Hearing status and age represent the principal tinnitus related factors; there is a statistically significant association between high-pitched tinnitus and high-frequency SNHL. There is no significant correlation between tinnitus severity and tinnitus loudness confirming the possibility that neural connection involved in evoking tinnitus-related negative reactions are governed by conditioned reflexes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of the decades of age and sex (χ 2 = 5.15, df = 5, P = .39).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of the loudness matches: (a) absolute values; (b) relative values.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ANOVA test for THI score: Light HL 34.07 ± 20.09; Moderate HL 40.41 ± 22.95; Severe HL 46.90 ± 24.48; Profound HL 53.33 ± 30.11.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Regression analysis of THI and loudness matches.
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