Jastreboff의 신경생리학적 모델에 의하면, 이명은 말초 청각감수기에 병변이 발생하는 경우 상위 신경인 청신경계가 과도한 보상활동을 하게 되며 그 결과 자발전위 활동 즉, 이명 관련 전위활동(tinnitus related neuronal activity)이 증가하여 발생한다.10) 피질 하 경로에 전달된 이명 관련 전 위활동은 변연계(limbic system)를 활성화시켜 불쾌한 신호로 바뀌게 된다. 이명으로 인한 불편함은 일상생활이나 사회활동을 포함한 전반적인 삶의 질에 영향을 미치게 되므로, 이명을 적절히 치료하는 것은 환자에게 중요한 문제
It is known that hearing aids can be effective in treating patients with both tinnitus and hearing loss. The aim of this study was to disclose the specific effects of hearing aids in relieving tinnitus and to find out relevant prognostic factors. A prospective study was done on 10 patients who had both tinnitus and hearing loss. All the patients underwent tinnitus evaluation, such as pitch & loudness matching, minimal masking level (MML) and residual inhibition (RI). Also self-reported outcome measures of tinnitus and hearing handicap such as visual analog scale (VAS), tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), hearing handicap inventory for the elderly (HHIE) and tinnitus intake/outcome interview (TI) were investigated. A success rate of tinnitus control was 90.0% in VAS and 70.0% in THI. The alleviation rate was 53.2% in VAS, 48.0% in THI and 50.0% in TI. The characteristics of the tinnitus such as MML and RI changed during three months of hearing-aids use. Each score of the VAS, THI, HHIE and TI before the treatment had a significant correlation with the total THI score after 3 months of the treatment. The duration of tinnitus had a significant correlation with the change in RI. After using hearing aids, the subjective discomfort due to tinnitus significantly reduced in 70-90% of the patients. The most important prognostic factor was the degree of pretreatment discomfort. Therefore, a more substantial improvement would be expected from the patients with greater pretreatment discomfort level. KEY WORDS：Hearing aid·Tinnitus
INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES Appendix
