Tinnitus is a disorder extremely frequent in patients with hearing loss. It affects more than 40 milion people in the USA, affecting about 1/3 of the population above 65 years old. Clinical experience has been demonstrating that patients with hearing loss and tinnitus have great benefits with the hearing aid because it helps out the comprehension of conversation while relieves tinnitus. AIM: In this work, we have studied the efficacy of hearing aids on diminishing or eliminating tinnitus in patients with hearing loss. STUDY DESIGN: Series study. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We evaluated 47 patients (32 women and 15 men) with ages ranging from 32 to 88 years old and medical indication for fitting a hearing aid. We subjectively investigated the sensation of tinnitus matching frequency (Hz) and loudness (dB) through the technic of acuphenometry and we have attended the patients for one year aiming to verify if there was a relief of tinnitus after the hearing aid fitting. RESULTS: The majority of patients (87,2%) refered relief of tinnitus with the use of the hearing aid. In 51% of these patients tinnitus has completely desapeared. It was necessary to use the hearing aid for some months (3-8) to obtain the relief of tinnitus in the majority of patients. The characteristics of the hearing aids, as model, tecnology and vent, had no influence on the relief of tinnitus. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the hearing aid was effective in reducing or eliminating tinnitus in patients with hearing loss and tinnitus.
tinnitus; hearing loss; hearing aids
