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Computers come to the aid of people with tinnitus
By Fran Lowry
Sept. 16, 2011
Researchers this week had some promising news for people with tinnitus, which they say is a particular problem today in young military veterans.
A quick and easy computer-based test called the Brain Speed Test can objectively measure the cognitive impairment associated with tinnitus, and a second computer program can help patients with severe tinnitus cope with the troublesome and often debilitating condition, the researchers said.
Tinnitus, a sensation of sound perceived only by the patient, affects more than 50 million people. Fortunately, most are not too troubled by the condition, but a minority will be severely bothered, and a few patients will even be driven to suicide by an intrusive sound they cannot escape, according to Dr. Andre Wineland from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Wineland and colleagues presented their research this week in San Francisco at the 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF).
Tinnitus is especially prevalent in military personnel returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is the most commonly claimed disability in this relatively young and fit population, Dr. Wineland told Reuters Health.
"We found that we could use a very simple test to see which patients are really bothered by their tinnitus and who might benefit by another intervention - in this case a brain fitness program," he said.
In the Brain Speed Test (BST), "Patients listen to various sounds and click on an up arrow if the sound goes from low to high and on a down arrow if the sound goes from high to low," Dr. Wineland explained.
In the current study, 60 patients with a median Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score of 26 (range 0 to 80) took the BST and the results were compared with those of subjects without tinnitus.
The patients' average age was 54, half were male, and the duration of tinnitus ranged from 6 months to 47 years.
Twenty-seven patients (46%) had severe tinnitus. There was a significant relationship between the severity of tinnitus and BST score when adjusted for age in that group (Spearman's rho = 0.52, p = 0.006).
"Patients with higher THI scores fared worse on the BST. The more bothered they were by their tinnitus, the slower they were in the BST," Dr. Wineland said.
"These are people who may appear just fine but in reality they are having trouble paying attention and may be missing things without even realizing it," he continued. "So doing poorly on the brain speed test translates into poor processing speed, cognition, attention, all the qualities you need to possess in order to succeed."
In the second part of the study, the researchers offered the patients with severe tinnitus a chance to try a computer-based brain fitness program.
Thirteen patients participated in this phase of the study, six of whom had very bothersome tinnitus.
After 8 weeks of brain fitness training, all six of the subjects who had bothersome tinnitus reported a subjective improvement in attention and memory, Dr. Wineland said.
"Ironically there was no change in their brain speed scores, but the patients felt that their tinnitus was less intrusive than it was before the brain fitness program. It is possible that by exercising the brain with these computer programs, they were able to improve their attention and memory, which are two very important components that are affected with tinnitus," Dr. Wineland said.
His group is planning a larger study to test the utility of brain fitness training. "We are quite encouraged by these results," he said. "It would be great to have something to offer these people. Right now, even though we try lots of things, from drugs to behavioral therapies, even surgery, there's no cure for tinnitus. There's nothing we can do to make the sound go away. But the computer might allow us to help them cope better with their condition."
By Fran Lowry
Sept. 16, 2011
Researchers this week had some promising news for people with tinnitus, which they say is a particular problem today in young military veterans.
A quick and easy computer-based test called the Brain Speed Test can objectively measure the cognitive impairment associated with tinnitus, and a second computer program can help patients with severe tinnitus cope with the troublesome and often debilitating condition, the researchers said.
Tinnitus, a sensation of sound perceived only by the patient, affects more than 50 million people. Fortunately, most are not too troubled by the condition, but a minority will be severely bothered, and a few patients will even be driven to suicide by an intrusive sound they cannot escape, according to Dr. Andre Wineland from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Wineland and colleagues presented their research this week in San Francisco at the 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF).
Tinnitus is especially prevalent in military personnel returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is the most commonly claimed disability in this relatively young and fit population, Dr. Wineland told Reuters Health.
"We found that we could use a very simple test to see which patients are really bothered by their tinnitus and who might benefit by another intervention - in this case a brain fitness program," he said.
In the Brain Speed Test (BST), "Patients listen to various sounds and click on an up arrow if the sound goes from low to high and on a down arrow if the sound goes from high to low," Dr. Wineland explained.
In the current study, 60 patients with a median Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score of 26 (range 0 to 80) took the BST and the results were compared with those of subjects without tinnitus.
The patients' average age was 54, half were male, and the duration of tinnitus ranged from 6 months to 47 years.
Twenty-seven patients (46%) had severe tinnitus. There was a significant relationship between the severity of tinnitus and BST score when adjusted for age in that group (Spearman's rho = 0.52, p = 0.006).
"Patients with higher THI scores fared worse on the BST. The more bothered they were by their tinnitus, the slower they were in the BST," Dr. Wineland said.
"These are people who may appear just fine but in reality they are having trouble paying attention and may be missing things without even realizing it," he continued. "So doing poorly on the brain speed test translates into poor processing speed, cognition, attention, all the qualities you need to possess in order to succeed."
In the second part of the study, the researchers offered the patients with severe tinnitus a chance to try a computer-based brain fitness program.
Thirteen patients participated in this phase of the study, six of whom had very bothersome tinnitus.
After 8 weeks of brain fitness training, all six of the subjects who had bothersome tinnitus reported a subjective improvement in attention and memory, Dr. Wineland said.
"Ironically there was no change in their brain speed scores, but the patients felt that their tinnitus was less intrusive than it was before the brain fitness program. It is possible that by exercising the brain with these computer programs, they were able to improve their attention and memory, which are two very important components that are affected with tinnitus," Dr. Wineland said.
His group is planning a larger study to test the utility of brain fitness training. "We are quite encouraged by these results," he said. "It would be great to have something to offer these people. Right now, even though we try lots of things, from drugs to behavioral therapies, even surgery, there's no cure for tinnitus. There's nothing we can do to make the sound go away. But the computer might allow us to help them cope better with their condition."
