Tinnitus in in-patients at our clinic is evaluated on a five-score scale for each of the following three characteristics:1) subjectively reported loudness; 2) degree of annoyance; and 3) interference with life activities. In the present study we evaluated the influence of these characteristics upon the clinical course and overall condition of our tinnitus patients. Our conclusions were as follows:
(1) There was a fair degree of correlation among the scores for the three categories, but individual patients showed various combinations of scores for the three scales. The combined use of all three categories is therefore felt to be important.
(2) 73% of the tinnitus patients showed loudness lev e l under 10 dB as measured by the loudness balance method. Subjectively reported loudness levels of patients with measured tinnitus under 10 dB were found to differ from those of patients with measured tinnitus above 10 dB.
(3) While evaluation of externally-simulated tinnitus sounds by normal controls and hearing loss patients are uniformly correlated with the actual loudness of the simulated sound, this result was not obtained in tinnitus patients.
(4) Investigation of the relationships among the 3 characteristics proved useful in overall assessment of the condition of the tinnitus patients.
(5) Tinnitus patients whose scores for the “degree of annoyance” and “interference with life activities” categories were unusually high in relation to the subjective level of loudness tended to have physical or mental problems in addition to their tinnitus.
(6) In addition to their scores for the 3 categories described above, patients were evaluated on a scale from 0 to 100 for subjective loudness, with the loudest tinnitus in that patient's experience being rated as 100. This parameter appeared to be broadly influenced by such non-tinnitus factors as lack of sleep and depression.
(7) In patients who showed decreases in the d egree of annoyance and/or interference with life activities without any accompanying improvement in tinnitus loudness, it was concluded that the original degree of annoyance or interference with life activities had been exaggerated by the patient. Combined use of the 3-category scale and the 100-point scale yielded the most accurate evaluation of clinical progress.

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract