Comparison of standard and abbreviated distortion product otoacoustic emissions procedures

Standard and abbreviated distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) procedures derived using the Grason Stadler Model 60 instrument were compared. The standard and abbreviated procedures were compared at frequencies of 1000, 1250, 1593, 2000, 2531, and 3187 Hz for 48 ears from 28 subjects. The subject pool included individuals with normal hearing and those with sensorineural hearing loss. The abbreviated procedure correlated well with the standard procedure for DPOAE amplitude cross all frequencies tested. The two procedures were also highly similar in categorizing the subjects in regard to normal or abnormal hearing sensitivity. It appears that the shorter analysis time for the abbreviated procedure had little effect on its accuracy. Although the abbreviated procedure has an obvious frequency limitation, it may have some clinical advantages for hearing screening.