Transient evoked otoacoustic emission input-output function variation in a large sample of neonates and implications...

We performed a retrospective analysis of TEOAEs from 1415 neonatal ears to investigate whether the application of linear averaging techniques may provide greater screening specificity than conventional nonlinear averaging techniques. Pass criteria were based on correlations between replicate averages, and pass rates were compared between linear and nonlinear averaging techniques. The linear averaging technique gave a higher pass rate as hypothesized, so that 35% of ears that passed using the linear method failed using the nonlinear method. In addition, lack of saturation was more evident for the short-latency components of the TEOAE. These results, from a large sample of recordings obtained under field conditions, indicate that there is potential to improve specificity of neonatal TEOAE screening using linear averaging techniques. A combination of linear and nonlinear techniques for the long and short latency components of the TEOAE, respectively, may offer further advantages.