Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.
2006 Apr;49(4):366-370.
The Feasibility of Using Automated Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission (DPOAE) as a Screening Auditory Function Test of Workers in a Noisy Environment
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 2Department of Otorhionlaryngology, Kon Yang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea. young1921@empal.com
- 3Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Catholic University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Automated DPOAE (Distortion product otoacoustic emission) was tested on workers exposed to a noisy environmnent to determine its feasibility as a screening test for noise-induced hearing loss.
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
Sensitivity and specificity were analyzed for in both automated DPOAE and Pure tone audiometry conducted on 300 subjects working in a noisy environment. Of these subjects, a subgroup of 40 workers who were available for a follow-up study underwent the same experiment again a year later, and the results were compared with the first one.
RESULTS
In terms of the frequency of automated DPOAE, it was noted that it showed 91% sensitivity with a 9% false negative rate. The pass rate according to the period of service indicated statistical significance, although the results of a 1 year follow-up experiment did not indicate statistical significance.
CONCLUSION
The automated DPOAE seems feasible to use as a screening test when frequency and adjusted reference criteria are considered.