title: Hearing threshold levels for a population of 11 to 35 year old Australian females and males.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Detailed information on the hearing threshold levels (HTLs) of young Australians was gathered as part of a large-scale study of the relationship between HTL and leisure-noise exposure in young Australians.
  
  
  METHODS
  HTL data for the study population (18-35 year olds) was carefully collected, as well as otoscopy, tympanometry, contra-lateral acoustic reflexes, and otoacoustic emissions (transient and distortion product), together with a comprehensive hearing health history - both past and present.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample cohort consisted of 1407 individuals, females and males.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prior to analysis, HTL data were filtered according to both a 'Low' and 'High' set of exclusion criteria. The results obtained for both high-screen and low-screen datasets were around +5 dB above the traditionally accepted values of audiometric zero. This is consistent with previous published reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comparison with 'ISO 7029 Acoustics: Statistical distribution of hearing thresholds as a function of age' indicated that threshold values for this dataset have a similar distribution to those of the Standard. This data provides a suitable reference HTL ('normative') database for young Australians.
authors.affiliation: National Acoustic Laboratories , Sydney , Australia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seeto
mesh_terms: D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests / Q000592:standards*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D038781:Otoscopy / Q000592:standards*; D012016:Reference Values; D012022:Reflex, Acoustic; D055815:Young Adult