Tinnitus in noise-induced hearing loss

Tinnitus was analysed in 94 patients with noise-induced hearing loss. Tinnitus of a pure tone character was most common followed by narrow-band noises, and a combination of these. A broad-band noise type of tinnitus was the least common finding. Tinnitus was most common at high frequencies. The suggested mean tinnitus level (in dBHL) corresponded well with the mean audiometric threshold for these patients. Most patients characterized their tinnitus as moderate to severe. Subjective tinnitus grading showed poor correlation to the audiometric threshold or to sensation level e.g. patients with a suggested tinnitus threshold corresponding to the hearing threshold could consider their tinnitus severe. The most common subjective discomforts were concentration difficulties, insomnia and decreased speech discrimination. In most cases residual inhibition was limited to 60 seconds.