A comparison of 2-dB and 5-dB step size in pure-tone audiometry

With the purpose of comparing test-retest reliability, pure-tone audiometry with a step size of 2 and 5 dB using the ascending technique was performed on two groups of subjects. One group consisted of 10 normal-hearing subjects and the other of 10 subjects with moderate cochlear hearing loss. The statistical analysis of the overall estimation of standard deviation obtained with the different step sizes showed no significant difference in any group. However, at 3 000 and 4 000 Hz in the cochlear group a significantly lower standard deviation was obtained with the smaller step size. The number of threshold crossings required to fulfil the threshold criterion increased significantly with the smaller step size.