Josefine Juul Jensen, Oticon A/S
Introduction
Imagine having a constant ringing, buzzing or hissing in your head that only you can hear. For the roughly 10-15% of the adult global population who experience chronic tinnitus, this is the case (Dobie, 2004). Tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound that occurs without any external sound stimuli (Langguth et al, 2013).
Eighty percent of those with chronic tinnitus are not considerably bothered by it. However, for the remaining 20%, their tinnitus can severely impair quality of life (Dobie, 2004). Having hearing loss significantly increases the risk of having tinnitus (e.g. Møller, 2011; Sanchez, 2004).
Tinnitus can further affect cognition like memory and attention (Mohamad et al, 2016; Andersson & McKenna, 2006; Tegg-Quinn et al, 2016). It is reasonable to assume that tinnitus increases cognitive effort, meaning that people with tinnitus and hearing loss must further intensify their level of effort. One example could be understanding speech in complex noisy environments in comparison to people who have hearing loss, but no tinnitus.