Auditory training in subjects with tinnitus

• Grant number: 18/16349-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Cooperation agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal researcher: Maria Fernanda Capoani Garcia Mondelli
• Grantee: Maria Carolina Ferreira
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Tinnitus is a noise in the head or in the ears without an external generating source, which is characterized as a symptom and may induces to impairments in quality of life (sleep, sociability, anxiety, stress). There is a range of tinnitus' etiologies and the symptom can arise due to metabolic disorders, acoustic traumas, chronic disease, use of medicines and, hearing loss. The treatment of tinnitus can be performed with counseling of professional, fitting hearing devices, use of sound generator (SG) and, the accomplishment of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). Hence, the subjects with tinnitus may develop impairments in the speech perception associated with the restriction of sociability. Concerning all the possibilities of speech therapist interventions, the auditory training enables the stimulation of hearing habilities. Objective: To evaluate the auditory training as an intervention tool to the subjects with tinnitus. Methods: Adults with tinnitus and bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, level from mild to moderate and adults without hearing loss will be selected. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and, the Lista de Sentenças para o Português Brasileiro (LS-BR) will be applied. Further, the Minimum Masking Level (MML), high frequencies audiometry, acuphenometry with psychoacoustics thresholds research of Pitch and Loudness matching and, auditory training will be performed for all the selected subjects.