Contralateral Suppression of Acoustic Reflex in Individuals with Chronic Subjective Tinnitus

Abstract

Objectives: The first aim of this study is to determine whether subjective tinnitus has an effect on the medial olivocochlear bundle function in the auditory efferent system, with the contralateral acoustic reflex suppression test. The second aim is to contribute to the literature on the auditory efferent system. Materıals and Methods: The study included 20 individuals with chronic subjective tinnitus and 28 healthy controls. Acoustic reflex measurement was applied to both groups at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz with and without contralateral noise. The contralateral suppression of the acoustic reflex (CSAR) results of both groups were compared in terms of CSAR threshold (CSART) and CSAR amplitude (CSARA). Results: There was no significant difference between the control and tinnitus groups in terms of CSART (P > 0.05), except that the left ear of the tinnitus group was higher than the control group at 0.5 kHz (P = 0.015). There was no significant difference in CSARA of the ears at all frequencies between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that the CSAR test can be used as a complementary test in the evaluation of the auditory efferent system of individuals with chronic subjective tinnitus.