[Preliminary studies of auditory fusion frequency in noise effects]

Auditory fusion frequency (AFF) of impulse sound and paired pitch in 80 workers exposed to noise and 60 non-exposed ones were measured to study the relationship between AFF and auditory fatigue. AFF test software was made by the authors themselves, and a stimulating sound signal was evoked in a personal computer. Relationship between AFF in non-exposed workers and their ages was explored, and AFF in exposed ones before and after their exposure was compared. Results showed that no relationship between AFF and their sex and ears in non-exposed group was found. There was a significant difference in AFF between groups of 50-59-year and less than or equal to 49-year. Stimulating sound was more sensitive in its carrier wave or center frequency of 1,000 Hz, and paired pitch has higher value in screening for subjects with auditory threshold shift at about 1/40 octave band. There was significant consistency in transient auditory threshold shift, an important indicator of AFF and auditory fatigue. Measurement of AFF is more stable, repeatable and less deviated, and needs only simple acoustic conditions. Hence, it is a practical superthreshold audiometry.