Relations between electric response audiometry, conventional audiometry and psychodiagnostic examinations in...

To obtain a more objective determination of the hearing loss and thereby a more effective therapy, we compared the results of conventional audiometry (reflex and behavioural audiometry) with electric response audiometry (ERA) results in 522 children whose median age was 3 years. ERA threshold was more sensitive at 10.8 +/- 17.5 dB. The mean difference and its standard deviation are both much greater for the younger children and particularly for non-cooperative children, but neither relates clearly to intelligence. In the case of 'difficult-to-test' children (due to behavioural disturbance, mental retardation or brain damage), we carried out a psychological examination consisting of several special non-verbal tests. 62.7% of children with IQs under 70 needed sedation; for the children whose IQs lay above 70, this proportion was only 37.3%. Our artefact rejection system greatly reduced the percentage of sedations required, particularly for children under 3 years of age.