title: Otoacoustic emissions and extended high-frequency hearing sensitivity in young adults.
abstract: The relationship between hearing sensitivity in the extended high-frequency region (8-16 kHz) and (1) the presence of synchronized spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SSOAEs) and (2) the strength of click-evoked and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs and DPOAEs) was investigated in 104 ears of 57 young adults. The age range was confined to 16 to 19 years. All subjects had normal hearing in the conventional audiometric frequency range (0.5-8 kHz). Ears with detected SSOAEs had better hearing sensitivity in the extended high-frequency region and also higher levels of CEOAEs and DPOAEs than ears with undetected SSOAEs. The results support the hypothesis that the presence of SSOAEs is indicative of an ear with highly normal cochlear function over a broad frequency range.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schmuziger
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smurzynski
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous / Q000502:physiology*; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013018:Sound Spectrography