Tinnitusu Olan Bireylerin Eşik Dengeleme Gürültüsü (Threshold Equalizing Noise-TEN) Testi ile Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

CAN M. Evaluation of Tinnitus Patients With Using Threshold Equalizing Noise-TEN Test, Hacettepe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Master Thesis of Audiology, Ankara, 2019 Tinnitus, which is a symptom and whose etiopathogenesis is not fully explained, may be due to the pathologies that occur in the peripheral and central pathways of the hearing structures, and may be of metabolic, psychogenic or cardiovascular origin. However, studies have reported that a degeneration of the hearing structures is required for tinnitus. This degeneration usually starts from the basal part of the cochlea and in some cases may not be appear in the audiogram. The aim of this study was to evaluate cochlear functions by applying TEN and OAE tests to individuals with hearing loss and normal hearing tinnitus. The study included 3 groups; individuals with hearing loss and tinnitus (CG1), individuals with normal hearing and tinnitus (CG2), and individuals without hearing loss and tinnitus (K). TEN test and TEOAE and DPOAE tests were applied to all individuals to evaluate the functions of hair cells in the inner ear together with audiological evaluations and THI was applied to individuals with tinnitus. In the hearing-impaired group, two patients (% 3.8) were found dead region in the TEN test, and general thresholds were significantly increased compared to other groups (p <0.05). In this group, OAE’s could not be obtained or observed in minimal. In normal hearing tinnitus group, TEN and TEOAE tests were not different from healthy subjects (p> 0.05), but significant decreases were observed in emission amplitudes at 6 and 8 kHz in DPOAE test (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in TEA levels between the two groups (p>0.05). As a result, it was observed that hearing loss and tinnitus-pathologies cause more damage to hair cells than the tinnitus pathologies. Tinnitus patients with normal audiograms were thought to have basal dysfunction. According to TEA results, the negative effect of tinnitus on the individuals, quality of life was thought to be independent of hearing loss.