Achados audiológicos e medidas psicoacústicas do zumbido em indivíduos com disfunção temporomandibular

Abstract

Introduction: Temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) involves the masticatory muscles and the temporomandibular joint. The most common symptoms are otalgia, tinnitus and dizziness. Purpose: To characterize audiological findings, psychoacoustic measurements of tinnitus, self-perception of tinnitus in quality of life and to verify the association between Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores with factors related to tinnitus and TMD. Methods: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee, ¬¬under protocol number 3.223.448. The sample consisted of 23 participants of both genders, diagnosed with TMD and tinnitus complaint. Submitted to anamnesis, basic audiological evaluation, psychoacoustic tinnitus evaluation and to the THI questionnaire. Results: Regarding the audiological evaluation, 22 subjects had normal hearing (95.6%). As for the tinnitus complaint, most patients manifested it bilaterally. Of these, 19 (82%) had intermittent tinnitus. A mean loudness of 21.9 dBNS and a pitch of 11.700 Hz were obtained bilaterally. Regarding the mean score, in the questionnaire applied, a slight degree of damage was observed. There was an association of worsening tinnitus in the "stress" aspects in the functional dimension (0.012) and total score (0.025) and also in "silence" aspects in the functional (0.043) and emotional dimensions (0.017) and total score (0.019). Conclusion: There was a predominance of hearing within normal standards, associated with the presence of otological symptoms such as tinnitus, which caused a slight degree of impairment on quality of life. There was an association between greater impairment caused by tinnitus in the quality of life of patients with TMD who perceived worsening tinnitus in situations of silence, stress, and sleep. The most frequent tinnitus was a high-pitched, intermittent, bilateral occurrence.