Temporal resolution and selective attention of individuals with tinnitus

Abstract

Background: speech comprehension difficulty is a very common complaint of individuals with tinnitus with and without hearing loss. This study was conducted in order to analyze if tinnitus interferes in auditory processing and speech comprehension in individuals with normal hearing levels.

Aim: to asses and compare the auditory behavior of temporal resolution and selective attention of adults with normal hearing levels with and without tinnitus.

Method: 45 individuals, 15 with continuous tinnitus and 30 without tinnitus were selected and assessed by three auditory processing tests: Speech in Noise Test, Dichotic Digits Test and Gaps in Noise. After that, the results of each group were compared by appropriated statistic's tests; one of them was ANOVA.

Results: there were no significant statistical differences between the groups and both ears.

Conclusion: tinnitus did not interfere in the auditory abilities of selective attention and temporal resolution.