The effect of silence on tinnitus perception.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of sustained silence was studied on the emergence of tinnitus perception in 120 normal hearing young adult Caucasians and African Americans. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: After sitting in a sound booth for a period of 20 minutes, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire documenting whether they perceived sounds in the silent setting and descriptions of the sounds they heard. RESULTS: Tinnitus-like sounds were perceived in 64% of listeners overall. No significant differences in tinnitus perception were observed between males and females. However, there was a significant difference in tinnitus perception between Caucasian and African American subjects, with tinnitus sounds emerging in sustained silence less frequently in African American listeners. Tinnitus emerged quickly in a majority of subjects (less than 4 minutes) and African American subjects who perceived tinnitus heard a greater number of individual tinnitus-like sounds than did Caucasian subjects. Ring (57%), buzz (21%), pulse (22%), heartbeat (21%), and hum (14%) were the most common sounds heard, with ring being the most common overall tinnitus perception. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Few investigators have documented at the emergence of tinnitus in normal hearing subjects. Results of the current study found significant differences in tinnitus perception between Caucasian and African American subjects, but found no significant differences when comparing males and female subjects. EBM RATING: C.