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Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Hearing threshold estimation in infants using auditory steady-state responses
Gary Rance1, Richard Roper, Lindsay Symons
1Department of Otolaryngology, University of Melbourne, Australia. grance@unimelb.edu.au
Insights
Auditory steady-state response (ASSR) testing accurately reflects hearing in infants with normal or sensorineural hearing loss. However, ASSR is less reliable for diagnosing auditory neuropathy-type hearing loss in newborns.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Pediatric Medicine
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Early intervention for permanent hearing loss in infants necessitates precise audiological assessment tools.
- Accurate hearing evaluation in the first three months of life is crucial for timely intervention.
- Existing methods require validation against established behavioral audiograms in young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare auditory steady-state response (ASSR) findings in infants with subsequent behavioral hearing levels.
- To evaluate the efficacy of ASSR in assessing hearing acuity across different hearing loss types in neonates.
- To determine the correlation between ASSR and behavioral audiograms in infants aged 0-3 months.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of audiological data from 575 infants tested within the first three months of life.
- ASSR audiograms generated using amplitude and frequency modulated tones at octave frequencies (500 Hz to 4 kHz).
- Comparison of ASSR thresholds with later-obtained behavioral hearing levels in normal hearing, sensorineural hearing loss, and auditory neuropathy-type hearing loss groups.
Main Results:
- High correlation (Pearson r > 0.95) between ASSR and behavioral hearing thresholds in infants with normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss.
- ASSR testing demonstrated significant discrepancies in reflecting the behavioral audiogram for children diagnosed with auditory neuropathy-type hearing loss.
- Data from 575 subjects, including 285 normal hearing, 271 sensorineural hearing loss, and 19 auditory neuropathy-type hearing loss cases.
Conclusions:
- Auditory steady-state response (ASSR) testing provides a reliable measure of hearing acuity in infants with normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss.
- ASSR may not be a suitable diagnostic tool for auditory neuropathy-type hearing loss in early infancy.
- ASSR testing offers valuable insights into infant hearing, supporting early identification and intervention strategies.
Abstract:
Successful early intervention in children with permanent hearing loss requires assessment techniques that can accurately reflect the behavioral audiogram in infancy. This retrospective study compared auditory steady-state response (ASSR) findings from subjects tested in the first three months of life with subsequently obtained behavioral hearing levels. ASSR audiograms were established using amplitude and frequency modulated tones at octave frequencies (500 Hz to 4 kHz). Results obtained from 575 subjects including 285 with normal hearing, 271 with sensorineural hearing loss, and 19 with auditory neuropathy-type hearing loss are presented. ASSR and behavioral hearing thresholds for subjects in the normal and sensorineural groups were highly correlated, with Pearson r values exceeding 0.95 at each of the test frequencies. In contrast, ASSR thresholds in children with AN-type hearing loss did not accurately reflect the behavioral audiogram. Overall, the findings indicate that ASSR testing can offer useful insights into the hearing acuity of children tested in infancy.
