The Importance of the Individual Adjustments in Sound Therapy

Abstract

Objectives:

The difficulty in choosing appropriate therapy for chronic tinnitus lies in its various forms of impact on the quality of life of patients and requires personalization. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the use of sound generators with individual adjustments to relieve tinnitus in patients unresponsive to previous drug treatment.

Methods:

This was a prospective study of 10 patients, 5 male and 5 female, ages ranging from 41 to 78 years with chronic tinnitus who were resistant to previous drug treatments. Bilateral sound generators Reach62 or Mind 9 models were used for at least 6 daily hours for 18 months. Audiometrics testing, pitch, loudness, minimum masking level (MML), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaires were given. Sound generators were used before 1 month and, sequentially every 3 months up to 18 months. The sound generators were individually adjusted, according to criteria of personal complaints in each visit.

Results:

There was an important reduction in tinnitus in 9 patients using an protocol with a personalized approach, independent of its psychoacoustic characteristics, when THI and VAS were applied. Patients with more than one specific kind of tinnitus concomitantly showed more reduction in pure tone tinnitus. Only 1 patient was indicative of depression in HADS and did not respond to sound therapy.

Conclusions:

We observed an importance in the individual adjustments in therapy, regardless the equipment used. There was an improvement in tinnitus disturbance and quality of life of these patients.