title: A report of extended high frequency audiometry thresholds in school-age children with no hearing complaints.
abstract: The aim of the study was to establish the extended high frequency thresholds (EHF) of school-age children with no hearing complaints. The study was conducted on 50 children aged 8 to 12 years with pure tone thresholds (0.5, 1 and 2 kHz) of 15 dB HL or less, with normal speech discrimination and tympanometry and with the presence of contralateral acoustic reflexes of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz. The children were tested for EHF at frequencies of 9, 10, 11.2, 12.5, 14 and 16 kHz. No significant differences were found between the right and left ear for female and male groups. The results allowed us to group the children into a single sample with mean thresholds (dB) of 8.6 (9 kHz), 6.2 (10 kHz), 8.2 (11.2 kHz), 7.1 (12.5 kHz), 0.4 (14 kHz), and -3.6 (16 kHz). We conclude that, for school-age children, the extended EHF below 15 dBHL could be used as an indication of normal hearing sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil;
authors.forename: Adriana Ribeiro Tavares
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Anastasio
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil;
authors.forename: Renata Daniela
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Radael
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil;
authors.forename: Juliana Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cavalcante
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology, Center of Bioacoustics, University of Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatzopoulos
keywords: age; audiometry; child.; hearing; high-frequency audiometry; threshold