Clinical and audiological characteristics of tonal and noise tinnitus.

A study was made of the clinical and audiological characteristics of tonal and noise tinnitus through a correlation of detailed patient interviews, comprehensive neurootological examination results, and clinical data on tinnitus type, frequency, loudness and bandwidth obtained with our newly developed tinnitus-measuring device. Of the 205 cases studied, 61% had noise tinnitus and 39% had tonal tinnitus. Higher incidences of noise tinnitus were discovered in patients aged over 50 years as well as in those with longer tinnitus histories and higher-level hearing losses; noise bandwidths in these patients also tended to be larger. Our data indicated that cases with noise tinnitus, especially those with wider bandwidths, tended to be associated with wide-range cochlear damage.