Establishing Normative Standards for Measures of Tinnitus Perception

 描述（由申请人提供）： 为了进行这项研究，将招募300名经历慢性耳鸣的个体，并按年龄18-30岁、31-40岁、41-50岁、51-60岁、61-70岁和71岁以上（每十年50名受试者）分层。每个受试者将完成测试，包括耳鸣响度和音高匹配，噪声带匹配，强制选择双阶梯，和最低掩蔽水平。这些措施的测试将使用我们的自动化，自我指导的Tintistry评估系统（TES）完成。受试者还将在每次测试前完成耳鸣功能指数和耳鸣响度的视觉数字量表。所有测试将在1、3和6个月时重复进行，以便在没有干预的情况下分析重测信度和测量的正常变化。60名受试者（每10岁10名）的子集还将进行响度和音高匹配、噪声带匹配和最小掩蔽水平的手动测试，以便于比较自动测试与手动测试获得的结果。最终产品将是一套针对耳鸣的每种心理声学测量的年龄特定的参考标准，适用于临床和研究样本。测试将在整个3年资助期内进行。同时，工商业污水附加费系统亦会升级为一个综合触屏系统.目前，TES由一台通过USB端口连接到TES模块（便于患者响应的控制设备）的PC计算机组成。需要进行升级，以更新6年前开发的这项技术，以进行先前的研究。为了实现这一升级，我们计划将所有组件集成到一个单元中。该装置将包括一个触摸屏工业控制器和当前的TES模块（安装在一个共同的外壳内彼此相邻），并连接ER-4 B插入式耳机。通过这次升级，目前的技术将提供给听力学家谁执行耳鸣心理声学测试，使用全自动系统，已验证的可靠性和测试，以建立标准的反应措施。该项目的完成将产生升级的TES和规范数据，以促进对耳鸣心理声学测试的个人反应的解释。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): To conduct this study, 300 individuals who experience chronic tinnitus will be enrolled and stratified by age decades 18-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70 and 71+ (50 subjects per decade). Each subject will complete testing that will include tinnitus loudness and pitch matching, noise-band matching, forced-choice double staircase, and minimum masking level. Testing for these measures will be accomplished using our automated, self-guided Tinnitus Evaluation System (TES). Subjects will also complete the Tinnitus Functional Index and a visual numeric scale of tinnitus loudness prior to each test session. All testing will be repeated at 1, 3, and 6 months, enabling analyses of test-retest reliability and normal variation of the measures in the absence of intervention. A subset of 60 subjects (10 per age decade) will also perform manual testing of loudness and pitch matching, noise-band matching, and minimum masking level to facilitate a comparison of results obtained with automated versus manual testing. The end product will be a set of age-specific reference standards for each psychoacoustic measure of tinnitus, suitable for application to clinical and research samples. Testing will occur throughout the 3-year funding period. Concurrently, the TES will be upgraded to an integrated touch- screen system. Currently, the TES consists of a PC computer connected via USB port to the TES Module (control device to facilitate patient responses). An upgrade is required to update this technology that was developed over 6 years ago to conduct the previous study. To accomplish this upgrade, we plan to integrate all components into a single unit. The unit will consist of a touch-screen industrial controller and the current TES Module (mounted adjacent to each other within a common enclosure), and attached ER-4B insert earphones. With this upgrade, current technology will be made available to audiologists who perform tinnitus psychoacoustic testing, using a fully-automated system that has been validated for reliability and tested to establish normative responses of the measures. The fulfillment of this project will produce both the upgraded TES and normative data to facilitate interpretation of individual responses to tinnitus psychoacoustic testing.