Brief Acoustic Tinnitus Suppression as a Diagnostic Procedure in Clinical Routine: Feasibility and Results

Brief acoustic tinnitus suppression (BATS) is a well-known phenomenon among tinnitus patients. Most knowledge about BATS comes from experiments applying filtered, modulated, or customized stimuli in selected patient populations. Testing BATS in clinical routine could provide valuable information for patient subtyping and assistance in treatment decision-making. Here, we investigated the feasibility of BATS tests beyond controlled experimental settings. Seventy individuals with tinnitus (29 female) were tested for BATS using white noise as part of a first consultation visit at the Interdisciplinary Tinnitus Center in Regensburg. The procedure turned out to be feasible under clinical routine conditions. Thirty-five patients (50%) reported some form of tinnitus suppression, with 6 (8.6%) reporting at least 50% reduction and 1 (1.4%) complete absence of their tinnitus percept. The degree of suppression was rated as relevant improvement by most patients. In summary, the integration of BATS assessments was feasible and provided valuable information about the patients' tinnitus.