title: Low-frequency specificity of the auditory brainstem response threshold elicited by clicks masked with 1590-Hz high-pass noise in subjects with sloping cochlear hearing losses.
abstract: In this study, the frequency specificity of the ABR threshold to stimulation with a click masked with 1590-Hz high-pass noise was determined in subjects with sloping cochlear hearing losses both high- and low-frequency in character. The results show that the ABR threshold elicited by this stimulus is low-frequency specific. The standard error in estimating the 1,000-Hz pure-tone threshold from the high-pass-noise-masked click-evoked ABR threshold is 10.2 dB which equals that for estimating the 3,000-Hz pure-tone threshold from the routinely used unmasked click ABR threshold. The ABR threshold elicited by a click masked with 1590-Hz high-pass noise can therefore be regarded as an accurate tool to predict the pure-tone hearing loss at 1,000 Hz. However, this method is less suitable for routine clinical testing because of the masking noise needed: the occasional high loudness level adversely affects the response quality and reduces the dynamic range of pure-tone hearing losses to be assessed. A third disadvantage is that determining the masking level electrophysiologically for each ear is time consuming. The search for a method with no or less masking noise should therefore continue.
authors.affiliation: Sophia Children's Hospital Rotterdam, Erasmus University, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Conijn
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Brocaar
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: van Zanten
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001143:Arousal; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002648:Child; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011304:Presbycusis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012890:Sleep