title: Reliability in warble-tone sound field audiometry.
abstract: Test-retest reliability of sound field audiometry has been evaluated by means of repeated determinations of hearing threshold levels for frequency-modulated tones on normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. Two modulation frequencies, 5 and 20 Hz, and two frequency deviations, 4 and 25%, were used, with centre frequencies in the range from 250 to 8,000 Hz. No significant influence on the standard deviations for test-retest differences was found for any of the three parameters studied: modulation frequency, frequency deviation, and normal versus impaired hearing in the listeners. The standard deviation values obtained were smaller than those previously obtained for regular pure-tone threshold audiometry using headphones. They indicate a test-retest reliability allowing functional gain measurements of hearing aids on the real ear to be performed at least as accurately as insertion gain measurements at frequencies above 2 kHz. In the hearing-impaired listeners, some influence was found from modulation frequency and frequency deviation on the sound field hearing threshold levels obtained.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001299:Audiometry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004777:Environment; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013016:Sound