Reproducibility (test-retest) of vestibular evoked myogenic potential.
BACKGROUND
There is still no consensus in the literature as to the best acoustic stimulus for capturing vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP). Low-frequency tone bursts are generally more effective than high-frequency, but recent studies still use clicks. Reproducibility is an important analytical parameter to observe the reliability of responses.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the reproducibility of p13 and n23 latency and amplitude of the VEMP for stimuli with different tone-burst frequencies, and to define the best test frequency.


METHODS
Cross-sectional cohort study. VEMP was captured in 156 ears, on the sternocleidomastoid muscle, using 100 tone-burst stimuli at frequencies of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000Hz, and sound intensity of 95dB nHL. Responses were replicated, that is, recorded three times on each side.


RESULTS
No significant difference was observed for p13 and n23 latencies of the VEMP, captured at three moments with tone-burst stimuli at 250, 500, and 1000Hz. Only the frequency of 2000Hz showed a difference between captures of this potential (p<0.001). p13 and n23 amplitude analysis was also similar in the test-retest for all frequencies analyzed.


CONCLUSIONS
p13 and n23 latencies and amplitudes of VEMP for tone-burst stimuli at frequencies of 250, 500, and 1000Hz are reproducible.
Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS), Aracaju, SE, Brazil. Electronic address: alinecabralbarreto@gmail.com.
Aline Cabral de
AC
Oliveira
Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Universidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas (UNCISAL), Maceió, AL, Brazil.
Pedro de Lemos
Pde L
Menezes
Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Department of Phonoaudiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Liliane Desgualdo
LD
Pereira
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007758:Ear, Inner; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D058585:Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials; D014724:Vestibular Function Tests; D055815:Young Adult
Electromyography; Eletromiografia; Evoked potentials; Nervo vestibular; Potenciais evocados; Vestibular nerve; Vestibule labyrinth; Vestíbulo do labirinto