Relationship between uncomfortable loudness level and acoustic reflex threshold as a function of hearing loss

While many studies examined the relationship between Acoustic Reflex Threshold (ART) and Uncomfortable Loudness Level (UCL) and the possibility of predicting one from the other, no study to the authors' knowledge has shown the relationship between these two measures with respect to hearing loss, and uses such a relationship to predict either measure from the other plus the hearing loss. To achieve these relationships and uses, 80 Ss were studied, 20 in each of 4 groups, with normal hearing and with mild, moderate, and severe noise-induced hearing loss. ARTs and UCLs were obtained at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kc/s. The results demonstrated that db sensation level (SL) of ART and UCL were highly correlated with pure-tone hearing threshold level (HTL). An equation was derived: UCL (in db SL) - ART (in db SL) = 6 - .05 HTL, which shows that the relationship between ART and UCL varies as a function of hearing loss. Data from other studies were compared and discussed.