Quality of life in patients with tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss

The severity of tinnitus often correlates to psychological and general health factors and the risk of depression and insomnia may be higher in patients with tinnitus.

Three questionnaires about physical and psychological health were mailed to 714 Swedish patients with tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss. A total of 555 (78%) patients replied and 426 patients (77%) submitted their answers to the questionnaires.

Female patients had significantly higher Tinnitus Handicap Inventory scores than male patients. An open question about the experienced quality of the care that the patients obtained at our ENT clinics resulted in 159 comments (37%). The majority of the comments were about the hearing aids and many patients did not identify their hearing aids as a treatment. Patients who did not feel that the treatment they obtained at our ENT clinics was good had a significantly higher pure tone average (PTA).

The results showed that many patients who did not feel that the treatment they obtained at our ENT clinics was good had no hearing aids (61%) and this level of dissatisfaction was significantly higher than in patients who stated that they had received treatment (45%). The use of hearing aids as the main treatment model in patients suffering from tinnitus and hearing impairment can be recommended in these patients. Further research is required to find an approach that could motivate patients with both tinnitus and hearing impairment to use hearing aids.