A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study of Tinnitus Awareness and Impact in a Population of Adult Cochlear Implant Users.
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Publication Date
2019Journal Title
Ear Hear
ISSN
0196-0202
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Volume
40
Issue
1
Pages
135-142
Language
eng
Type
Article
Physical Medium
Print
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Gomersall, P. A., Baguley, D. M., & Carlyon, B. (2019). A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study of Tinnitus Awareness and Impact in a Population of Adult Cochlear Implant Users.. Ear Hear, 40 (1), 135-142. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000601
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The primary aim was to identify the proportion of individuals within the adult cochlear implant population who are aware of tinnitus and those who report a negative impact from this perception, using a bespoke questionnaire designed to limit bias. A secondary aim was to use qualitative analysis of open-text responses to identify themes linked to tinnitus perception in this population. DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire study of a large clinical population who received an implant from Cambridge University Hospitals, United Kingdom. RESULTS: Seventy-five percent of respondents reported tinnitus awareness. When impact scores for six areas of difficulty were ranked, 13% of individuals ranked tinnitus their primary concern and nearly a third ranked tinnitus in the top two positions. Tinnitus impact was not found to reduce with duration since implantation. The most common open-text responses were linked to a general improvement postimplantation and acute tinnitus alleviation specific to times when the device was in use. CONCLUSIONS: Tinnitus is a problem for a significant proportion of individuals with a cochlear implant. Clinicians, scientists, and cochlear implant manufacturers should be aware that management of tinnitus may be a greater priority for an implantee than difficulties linked to speech perception. Where a positive effect of implantation was reported, there was greater evidence for masking of tinnitus via the implant rather than reversal of maladaptive plasticity.
Keywords
Humans, Deafness, Tinnitus, Cochlear Implantation, Cross-Sectional Studies, Cochlear Implants, Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Female, Male, Visual Analog Scale, Surveys and Questionnaires, United Kingdom
Sponsorship
MRC (unknown)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/3)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000601
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/279820
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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