NIHL-related Tinnitus: Pathophysiological and Medico-legal Issues
Abstract
Due to the increasing amount of requests for compensation, a medicolegal decision making system for NIHL-related tinnitus was developed within the Belgian Institute for Occupational Diseases, and – after a few preliminary trials – systematically used since 2002. This decision making system was first presented at the NES-meeting in Bad Kissingen 2004, and in the meantime published as an article in the International Tinnitus Journal.
Experience with 80 tinnitus-patients claiming for financial compensation is now available. All of them had an exhaustive clinical and audiological investigation. The pathophysiological characteristics of the “accepted” cases – i.e. with tinnitus recognized as related to NIHL, and financially compensated as an occupational disease – are compared with those from the “rejected” group, i.e. non recognized as related to NIHL, and thus non compensated. The statistical analysis focuses on the correlation between on the one hand specific characteristics of tinnitus and on the other hand parameters derived from case history and audiological findings.
The medico-legal arguments for acceptation / rejection are discussed on the base of these correlations.
