Objective: To compare the effect of tinnitus masking and tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) in patients with subjective tinnitus, and to analyze the effect of TRT within the positive or negative group of tinnitus masking test.
Method: The 217 patients from January, 2006 to April, 2008 in our hospital, were performed with the determination of tinnitus including pitch matching, intensity matching, Feldmann masking curve and residual inhibition test with Tinni Test. Of which 143 cases were positive and 74 were negative in tinnitus masking. The follow-up was 6 months and 10 cases were lost. 207 patients were divided into two groups for prospective study: 69 cases in tinnitus masking group and 138 cases in TRT group, The curative effect was evaluated according to tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) and Subjective Visual Tinnitus Scale (SVTS).
Result: Both masking treatment and TRT were effective for cases with tinnitus, there was significant difference of the score of THI and SVTS of tinnitus between pretherapy and posttherapy (P < 0.01). TRT therapy was more effective than masking therapy, there was significant difference of the THI score between TRT and masking group,but there was no significant difference of of the SVTS between them. TRT therapy was suitable for the patients with both positive effect and negative effect of masking test, and there was no significant difference between them.
Conclusion: Both TRT and masking therapy are the most important therapy for tinnitus patients, but TRT is much more effective than masking therapy in some aspects.