A Review of Auditory Rehabilitation Uses in Hearing Aid-Based Therapy for Tinnitus (2013-2024)

The weight of evidence supports hearing aids playing an important role in tinnitus management. Less information is available about the role of auditory rehabilitation (AR) in the hearing aid therapy process. The research question was "what role has amplification and AR played in the management of tinnitus." To identify relevant studies, database searches of Scopus (keywords), Embase (keywords), and PubMed (title and abstract) were carried out in April/May 2024 using the following search terms [tinnitus] and [amplification] or [hearing aids]. Articles were excluded if not written in English or unavailable in full text. Reviews and protocols were excluded. Once duplicates were removed, 495 articles were screened with 58 articles being included in the review. After cataloguing, articles were divided into those that described use of AR in their methods and those that did not. AR was subcategorized into four categories and described as (1) instruction, (2) counseling, (3) sensory management, (4) perceptual training. Articles published in the last 12 years support the use of hearing aids. The use of AR in addition to amplification was common but its content, application, and contribution to outcomes were ambiguous. Augmentation of amplification benefits for tinnitus through AR presents an opportunity for future research. In future research, each AR component needs to be described in greater detail and the relative merits of different types of AR and their role in personalized therapy needs to be ascertained.