Tinnitus pitch: a comparison of three measurement methods

The most prominent pitch of tinnitus was measured in 10 subjects with sensorineural tinnitus. The pitch was determined with three different psychophysical procedures in the ear ipsilateral to the tinnitus; an Adaptive Method (Bracketing), a Method of Limits (ascending and descending), and the Method of Adjustment. Each procedure involved equating the pitch of a pure tone to the most prominent tinnitus pitch, and was repeated seven times on each subject. Although there was no statistically significant difference for the means and standard deviations among the different methods for the group data, there were some large differences in a few individuals. Many of the subjects produced pitch matches that covered a range of 1 octave, whereas others showed better consistency. The Method of Limits took longer to perform and resulted in more octave confusions than the other two methods. The Adaptive Method was also repeated five times for each subject in the ear contralateral to the tinnitus. Two subjects produced a tinnitus pitch match that was over 1/2 octave lower in the contralateral ear. We recommend that tinnitus pitch be measured in the ipsilateral ear with either the Method of Adjustment or the Adaptive Method. Because some patients are unreliable in their pitch matching we suggest repeating the match seven to nine times.