[Study of hyperacusis at a tinnitus unit] - PubMed

Objectives: Description of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hyperacusis in a tinnitus clinic unit.

Study design: Transversal descriptive.

Patients: Two hundred and fifty patients referred to our Tinnitus Unit a Teaching Hospital, between January 1999 and December 2000.

Outcome measures: Questionnaires to evaluate hyperacusis and tinnitus interference in life quality. Epidemiological and audiological data as well as tinnitus characteristics in hyperacustic patients are reported.

Results: Sixty three percent of the patients showed hyperacusis according to sound threshold level. Hearing loss was present in 83%. Discomfort with background noise was referred in 54% of cases and 52% avoided at least one daily activity because of this discomfort. Tinnitus in hyperacusis population showed a disability level of 47% using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI).

Conclusions: A physiopathological relation between tinnitus and hyperacusis could be explained by the high prevalence of both symptoms in the same population. It is necessary to agree in the criteria to define hyperacusis as well as for the evaluation of its effect in quality of life. The tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is the more accepted hyperacusis treatment approach in the literature.