Reproducibility of hearing threshold measurements. Supplementary data on bone-conduction and speech audiometry.
The reproducibility of bone-conduction pure-tone audiometry and speech recognition thresholds has been tested in groups of normal-hearing subjects. Each person was tested twice during the same day, and the test-retest difference was calculated. The reproducibility is presented as the standard deviation of this difference. Bone-conduction threshold measurements have a high degree of test-retest precision, whereas air-bone gaps show a large range of distribution in these normal-hearing subjects. This makes the interpretation of such gaps spurious when values are below 20-30 dB. Speech recognition threshold has the highest degree of test-retest precision of all audiometric tests, and this is probably due to the steep slope of the psychometric function at 50% intelligibility. A more detailed graphic presentation of the 50% point of intersection will bring the reproducibility down to less than 2.5 dB.
Laukli
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Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Tromsø, Norway.
Fjermedal
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D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001844:Bone Conduction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test