Systematic errors in bone conduction audiometry.
Air and bone conduction audiometry was carried out on two separate groups of 12 normal hearing volunteers. One group was tested at St Mary's hospital, the other at Charing Cross hospital. The results from both centres showed evidence of a systematic error in bone conduction resulting in a pattern of 'notching' at 2 kHz. We argue that the effect is likely to be more apparent in conductive deafness and that a significant distortion of the audiogram occurs in about 17% of such cases. Since the problem appears not to be restricted to the centres involved in the study, we strongly recommend that the issue be addressed by the appropriate professional bodies.
O'Neill
G
G
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, St Mary's Hospital and, Department of Otolaryngology, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK.
Frosh
A C
AC
Jayaraj
S M
SM
D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000379:methods*; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged