Absorbance Measurements From Normal-hearing Ears in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2015-2016...

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Public Health
• Otoacoustic Emissions

Background:

• Normal hearing is crucial for communication and overall well-being.
• Accurate audiological measurements are essential for identifying hearing loss and guiding interventions.
• Large-scale population surveys provide valuable data on hearing health across diverse demographics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize absorbance and impedance angle measurements from normal-hearing ears.
• To analyze data from the 2015-2016 and 2017-2020 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES).
• To assess measurement consistency across different demographic groups.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of two publicly available NHANES datasets.
• Identification of ears with normal hearing and valid absorbance/impedance angle measurements.
• Descriptive statistical summarization by age, race/ethnicity, sex, and ear.

Main Results:

• Included 7029 ears from 4150 subjects (ages 6-80).
• Differences between demographic subgroups were small, within fractions of sample standard deviations.
• Largest variations in measurements were observed in age cohorts under 20 years.

Conclusions:

• NHANES absorbance and impedance angle data align with existing literature.
• Community-based measurements using the Titan instrument by trained professionals are comparable to laboratory findings.
• This validates the use of population-based surveys for reliable audiological data collection.