ECochG and psychoacoustic tests compared in identification of hearing loss in young children

Among 149 children (median age 23 months, range 2-123 months) examined by ECochG, a comparison was made between pure-tone and ECochG thresholds in 53 patients. By using linear regression analysis a high correlation was found (correlation coefficient 0.92, p less than 0.0005) proving that ECochG gives valid estimates of the hearing thresholds, also in small children. A comparison between behavioral observation audiometry (BOA) and ECochG thresholds was performed in 62 children. It was concluded that BOA exhibits poor sensitivity in the assessment of hearing losses and underestimates their degree of severity. Furthermore, when BOA diagnoses normal hearing, there is a 9% risk of depriving a "deaf' child of suitable treatment.