Hearing Aid Use Time Is Causally Influenced by Psychological Parameters in Mildly Distressed Patients with Chronic Tinnitus and Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss

TY - JOUR

T1 - Hearing Aid Use Time Is Causally Influenced by Psychological Parameters in Mildly Distressed Patients with Chronic Tinnitus and Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss

AU - Boecking, Benjamin

AU - Psatha, Stamatina

AU - Nyamaa, Amarjargal

AU - Dettling-Papargyris, Juliane

AU - Funk, Christine

AU - Oppel, Kevin

AU - Brueggemann, Petra

AU - Rose, Matthias

AU - Mazurek, Birgit

PY - 2022/10/4

Y1 - 2022/10/4

N2 - BACKGROUND: Hearing aids (HAs) can improve tinnitus-related distress (TRD) and speech-comprehension (SC) in silence or at 55 dB noise-interference (SC_55 dB) in patients with chronic tinnitus and mild-to-moderate hearing loss. However, the role of HA use time in relation to psychological, audiological, or self-reported tinnitus characteristics is under-investigated.METHODS: We examine 177 gender-stratified patients before (t1) and after an intervention comprising binaural DSLchild algorithm-based HA fitting and auditory training (t2) and at a 70-day follow up [t3]. HA use time was retrospectively retrieved (at t2) for the pre-post- and (at t3) post-follow up periods. General linear models investigated HA use time in relation to (1) general audiological, (2) tinnitus-related audiological, (3) tinnitus-related self-report, and (4) distress-related self-report indices before and after treatment, where applicable. Receiver operator characteristic analyses identified optimal HA use time for hereby-mediated treatment changes.RESULTS: At t1 and t2, psychological, but not audiological indices causally influenced prospective HA use time-except for SC_55 dB at t1, which, however, correlated with patients' anxiety, depressivity, and psychological distress levels. Correlations did not differ between patient subgroups defined by categorical tinnitus-related audiological or self-report indices. HA use time partly mediated treatment-related improvement in TRD, but not SC. Optimal use amounted to 9.5-10.5 h/day.CONCLUSIONS: An awareness of psychological influences may help clinicians facilitate HA use and, thereby, TRD improvement with hearing amplification.

AB - BACKGROUND: Hearing aids (HAs) can improve tinnitus-related distress (TRD) and speech-comprehension (SC) in silence or at 55 dB noise-interference (SC_55 dB) in patients with chronic tinnitus and mild-to-moderate hearing loss. However, the role of HA use time in relation to psychological, audiological, or self-reported tinnitus characteristics is under-investigated.METHODS: We examine 177 gender-stratified patients before (t1) and after an intervention comprising binaural DSLchild algorithm-based HA fitting and auditory training (t2) and at a 70-day follow up [t3]. HA use time was retrospectively retrieved (at t2) for the pre-post- and (at t3) post-follow up periods. General linear models investigated HA use time in relation to (1) general audiological, (2) tinnitus-related audiological, (3) tinnitus-related self-report, and (4) distress-related self-report indices before and after treatment, where applicable. Receiver operator characteristic analyses identified optimal HA use time for hereby-mediated treatment changes.RESULTS: At t1 and t2, psychological, but not audiological indices causally influenced prospective HA use time-except for SC_55 dB at t1, which, however, correlated with patients' anxiety, depressivity, and psychological distress levels. Correlations did not differ between patient subgroups defined by categorical tinnitus-related audiological or self-report indices. HA use time partly mediated treatment-related improvement in TRD, but not SC. Optimal use amounted to 9.5-10.5 h/day.CONCLUSIONS: An awareness of psychological influences may help clinicians facilitate HA use and, thereby, TRD improvement with hearing amplification.

U2 - 10.3390/jcm11195869

DO - 10.3390/jcm11195869

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 36233736

VL - 11

JO - J CLIN MED

JF - J CLIN MED

SN - 2077-0383

IS - 19

M1 - 5869

ER -