title: A one-week test-retest reliability study of Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials.
abstract: Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEPs) are increasingly used in longitudinal evaluation of brainstem function. The reliability of the neurophysiological parameters and definition of the normal test-retest variability are required for such investigations. In the present study we submitted 20 healthy volunteers (10 males and 10 females; mean age 35.1 years, range 24-49) to BAEPs in two sessions separated by seven days. The reliability of the parameters was estimated by means of intraclass correlation coefficient (R). All BAEP parameters showed excellent R values (above 0.75). In addition, the confidence interval lower limits of all R coefficients had good to excellent values. Finally we computed the upper normal limits of the test-retest variability of each parameter, with alpha = 0.01, using the within-subjects mean square. The confirmed good reliability of the analyzed parameters enables us to employ BAEPs as useful monitoring instruments in longitudinal studies.
authors: Fondazione Istituto Neurologico C.Mondino, Università di Pavia.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Bergamaschi
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Romani
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Versino
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Sartori
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Callieco
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Cosi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors