Comparing Listening Effort Among Patients With Hearing Loss Combined With Tinnitus, Hearing Loss Alone and a Control Group Publisher



Z Iran Pour Mobarakeh ZAHRA ; V Rahimi VIDA ; E Tavanai ELHAM ; M Amiri MARZIEH ; R Faryadras REZA ; H Aazh HASHIR
Source: International Journal of Audiology Published:2025

Abstract

Objective: This study compared listening effort (LE) in adults with tinnitus and hearing loss (HL+Tin), hearing loss alone (HL), and a control group (Control). Design and study sample: A case-control study involved 78 adults (aged 20–60). Participants underwent pure tone audiometry, the depression, anxiety, stress scale (DASS-21), speech-in-noise test (Quick-SIN), and Stroop test. The Quick-SIN and Stroop tests were taken twice, separately and simultaneously (dual-task paradigm). LE was derived from Stroop test outcomes, measuring selective attention (SA) and reaction time (RT) in dual-task versus baseline conditions. Results: No significant differences emerged in PTA, age, or DASS-21 scores between HL+Tin and HL groups. However, HL+Tin showed higher LE than HL for SA (Padj = 0.049) and RT (Padj = 0.047) with neutral words, but not emotional words (Padj = 0.283, 0.117). For the tinnitus group, regression analyses identified age, depression, and tinnitus severity (THI scores) as significant LE predictors, with age and THI most influential. Conclusions: LE is shaped by age, psychological distress, and tinnitus severity, suggesting integrated management of psychological and tinnitus-related factors to ease the cognitive load in listening tasks. Age and THI were consistently associated with greater LE across both SA and RT tasks. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.