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Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
High-frequency audiometry in young and older adults when conventional audiometry is normal
Isabella Monteiro de Castro Silva1, Maria Angela Guimarães Feitosa
1Centro Universitário Planalto do Distrito Federal, University of Brasilia, DF, Brazil. isabella@apis.com.br
High-frequency audiometry reveals age-related hearing decline even in normal-hearing adults. This sensitive hearing test can detect early auditory aging in older adults, distinguishing them from younger individuals.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Gerontology
- Otolaryngology
Background:
- Aging is associated with changes in auditory sensitivity.
- High-frequency audiometry (HFA) can detect early auditory changes.
- Current use of HFA is limited, especially in older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare pure tone thresholds (250 Hz to 16 kHz) in young and older adults.
- To assess the impact of audiologic complaints on hearing thresholds.
- To evaluate HFA's utility in detecting age-related hearing changes.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 64 adults (25-35 years vs. 45-55 years).
- Pure tone sensitivity assessed from 250 Hz to 16 kHz using an AC-40 audiometer.
- Participants were evenly distributed by age and sex.
Main Results:
- Older adults showed significantly higher thresholds than young adults, particularly at 8-16 kHz.
- All participants had normal audiometry between 250 Hz and 8 kHz.
- Audiologic complaints did not differentiate hearing thresholds.
Conclusions:
- Auditory aging, including high-frequency sensitivity loss, is detectable earlier than typically recognized.
- HFA effectively distinguishes auditory sensitivity between young and older adults.
- HFA is valuable for identifying subtle hearing changes in audiologically normal individuals.
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