Investigation of Tinnitus Patients in Italy: Clinical and Audiological Characteristics

Table 3

Tinnitus characteristics of the 312 subjects.

	Subjects No.	Total %
Localization of tinnitus		100
Right	83	26.61
Left	104	33.33
Bilateral	74	23.71
Within head	51	16.35
Tinnitus duration		100
Acute (≤3 months)	95	30.45
Subacute (3–12 months)	133	42.63
Chronic (>12 months)	84	26.92
Subjective judgment of tinnitus type		100
Pure tone	209	66.99
Narrow-band	87	27.88
Undetermined	16	5.13
Tinnitus pitch		100
High-pitched tinnitus	172	55.13
Middle-pitched tinnitus	56	17.95
Low-pitched tinnitus	68	21.79
Undetermined	16	5.13
Type of tinnitus onset		100
Suddenly	128	41.02
Slowly progressive	184	58.98
Tinnitus matched loudness		100
0–5 dB above the hearing threshold	44	14.1
5 dB above the hearing threshold	88	28.21
10 dB above the hearing threshold	118	37.8
15 dB above the hearing threshold	44	14.1
>15 dB above the hearing threshold	4	1.28
Undetermined	14	4.48
Development of tinnitus loudness		100
Has increased	168	53.85
Has decreased	26	8.33
Unchanged	118	37.82
Degree of discomfort evaluated by THI		100
Slight (I grade)	59	18.91
Mild (II grade)	102	32.69
Moderate (III grade)	79	25.32
Severe (IV grade)	52	16.67
Catastrophic (V grade)	20	6.41