Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Hearing Aids Combined With Psychological Counseling For The Long-term And Severe Tinnitus Patients

Objective:To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of hearing aids combined with counseling on the long-term, severe and subjective tinnitus with deafness patients at middle or old age; Tinnitus patients are divided into three groups according to hearing loss,age or the result of residual inhibition test,and we investigate the clinical effects of hearing aids combined with counseling on the long-term, severe and subjective tinnitus.Method:174tinnitus patients with deafness are divided into two groups:94cases in the study group, giving hearing aids combined with counseling therapy;80cases in the control group, giving counseling therapy. Two groups are both assessed at3,6and12months after the beginning of therapy.6cases bilaterally aided,88cases unilaterally aided in the study group.88cases unilaterally aided are divided into A group (moderate hearing loss41-55dB),B group(moderate severe hearing loss56-70dB),C group (severe hearing loss71～90dB) according to hearing loss; and divided into D group(50～60years),E group (61～70years),F group (71～80years) according to age; and divided into G group(residual inhibition test is completely positive),H group(residual inhibition test is partly positive),I group(residual inhibition test is negative or more severe) according to the result of residual inhibition test.Result:Two groups are both assessed at3,6and12months after the beginning of therapy.The effective rates of the study group are31.92%,65.96%and74.47%respectively, and the effective rates of the control group are11.25%,20.00%and23.75%respectively;There is significant difference among the two groups (P<0.01); The effective rate of patients bilaterally aided is higher than the effective rate of patients unilaterally aided,but there is no difference among the two groups (P>0.05).88cases unilaterally aided are divided into A,B,C group according to hearing loss.The effectiveness of the A group is the best, and the effectiveness of the C group is the worst; The effective rate of B group is higher than the effective rate of C group, but there is no difference among the two groups (P＞0.05); After6months, the effective rate of A group is higher than the effective rate of B,C group,and there is difference among them (P＜0.05).88cases unilaterally aided are divided into D,E,F group according to age. The effectiveness of D group is the best, and F group is the worst; But there is no difference amongD,E,Fgroup (P>0.05).88cases unilaterally aided are divided into G,H,I group according to the result of residual inhibition test. The effectiveness of G group is the best, and I group is the worst; After3months, there is no difference among G,H,I group (P>0.05); After6months, the effective rate of G,H group is higher than the effective rate of I group, and there is difference (P＜0.05); There is no difference among G,H group (P>0.05).Conclusion:Hearing aids can improve hearing at middle or old age, and it is useful for the treatment of tinnitus; Tinnitus patients with deafness at middle or old age choose hearing aids as early as possible, and had better be bilaterally aided.The effectiveness of tinnitus is the better for the patients who are moderate hearing loss, completely positive or partly positive for residual inhibition test.Counseling treatment is useful for the treatment of the long-term,severe and subjective tinnitus.Hearing aids combined with counseling treatment is an ideal method for the long-term,severe and subjective with deafness patients at middle or old age clinically.