Prevalence and Significance of High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Subjectively Normal-Hearing Patients with Tinnitus

Objectives:We investigated the incidences of high-frequency hearing loss (HFHL; above 2 kHz) and extended high-frequency hearing loss (EHFHL; above 8 kHz) in patients with tinnitus and subjectively normal hearing, and evaluated their effects on the clinical and audiological features of the patients.Methods:The sample included 85 patients with sensorineural tinnitus who had normal hearing sensitivity in the frequencies from 250 Hz to 2 kHz, and who had undergone extended high-frequency audiometry between July 2009 and February 2010. We investigated the incidences of HFHL and EHFHL in these patients and analyzed the significance of the hearing losses.Results:The incidence of HFHL or EHFHL was 88%. The proportion of patients with EHFHL, among the patients who had normal hearing sensitivity up to 8 kHz, was about 74%. The patients with normal hearing sensitivity at all test frequencies were significantly younger, had larger otoacoustic emissions, and had tinnitus that was less loud as measured by tinnitus mat...