The effect of the transducers on paediatric thresholds estimated with auditory steady-state responses

The objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) for estimating hearing thresholds in young children, compared with behavioural thresholds. The second objective was to investigate ASSR thresholds obtained with insert earphones versus supra-aural headphones to determine which transducer produces ASSR thresholds most similar to behavioural thresholds measured with supra-aural headphones. This retrospective study included 29 participants (58 ears): 12 children (24 ears) in the insert group and 17 children (34 ears) in the supra-aural group. No general anaesthesia was used. For both groups, there was a strong correlation between behavioural and ASSR thresholds, with a stronger correlation for the insert group. When behavioural thresholds are difficult to obtain, ASSR may be a useful objective measure that can be combined with other audiometric procedures to estimate hearing thresholds and to determine appropriate auditory rehabilitation approaches.