Limitations of ABR as a hearing test as exemplified in multiply handicapped adults

Some limitations of the audiometric application of the click-evoked ABR are exemplified in the results for this sample of multiply handicapped hearing-impaired adults. Normal ABR thresholds were not necessarily indicative of normal hearing. Complete absence of ABR was not necessarily associated with total deafness. These findings underscore the need for conservative interpretation when the ABR is used to assess hearing of neurologically impaired patients at risk for more central auditory dysfunction. Additional diagnostic information in problematic cases may be obtained with cortical auditory potentials. Electrophysiological data must, in turn, be integrated with behaviorally obtained results.