Tinnitus pitch, masking, and the effectiveness of hearing aids for tinnitus therapy.

Objective: To assess the benefits of hearing aids on tinnitus according to the tinnitus reaction questionnaire (TRQ; Wilson et al, 1991), to verify whether the degree of masking provided by the hearing aid influenced the TRQ score, to examine whether the matched tinnitus pitch predicted the effectiveness of hearing aids in masking tinnitus, and to determine whether prescription of high-frequency amplification might be desirable in tinnitus management when tinnitus pitch is high.

Design And Study Sample: A retrospective evaluation of the clinical outcomes of 70 tinnitus patients fitted with hearing aids was undertaken. The primary outcome measure was the TRQ, with a secondary subjective measure of tinnitus masking.