Clinical comparison of two automated audiometry procedures

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Hearing Science
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Automated pure-tone audiometry (APTA) shows potential for accurate hearing threshold estimation.
• Previous studies indicate varying correlations between APTA and manual audiometry across different frequencies.
• Differences in test procedures and equipment may influence APTA results.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare hearing threshold estimates obtained from two automated audiometry protocols with manual audiometry.
• To evaluate testing time, number of responses, and subject preference for automated versus manual audiometry.
• To identify factors contributing to discrepancies in hearing threshold measurements.

Main Methods:

• One hundred subjects (18-36 years) underwent air-conduction pure-tone audiometry.
• Two automated protocols (ascending and shortened ascending) were compared against manual audiometry.
• Measurements included testing time, total responses, and subject preference.

Main Results:

• A significant difference in threshold distribution was observed at 250 Hz between automated methods.
• The shortened ascending protocol significantly reduced testing time (5.8 min) compared to the ascending protocol (9.8 min).
• Subject preference did not differ significantly between automated and manual procedures.

Conclusions:

• The shortened ascending protocol is more time-efficient for automated audiometry.
• Differences in automated thresholds at 250 Hz stem from distinct test procedures.
• Discrepancies at 8,000 Hz may relate to transducer types and calibration variations.