title: Auditory and tactile bone-conduction thresholds using three different oscillators.
abstract: Determination of tactile bone-conduction (BC) thresholds is essential to provide proper diagnosis of individuals with profound hearing loss. In this study, auditory and tactile BC thresholds were compared using three oscillators: the Radioear B-70-A, B-71, and B-72 with mastoid and forehead placement. Subjects included 12 adults with normal hearing (to establish auditory thresholds) and 12 adults with profound sensorineural hearing loss (to establish tactile thresholds). All 24 subjects were tested at octave intervals from 250 through 4000 Hz. As demonstrated in previous studies, tactile thresholds were lower for the low frequencies. Some differences in tactile thresholds were evinced as a function of different oscillators. One fact that emerged from this study is the lower tactile threshold with forehead placement as compared to the mastoid. While ostensibly a disadvantage to forehead BC testing, there are some clinical advantages to be gleaned from this discovery.
authors.affiliation: Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Texas at Austin, 78712-1089, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.forename: F N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001844:Bone Conduction; D005546:Forehead; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008416:Mastoid; D014110:Touch