Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2020 Jan;63(1):14-20. 10.3342/kjorl-hns.2019.00290.

Establishment of Normative Data for Auditory Brainstem Responses in White Noise Condition

• Kim S
• You S
• Kim Y
• Han W

• KMID: 2501943
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2019.00290

Abstract

Background and Objectives
Recently, researchers have been interested in auditory brainstem response (ABR) under noisy condition for better diagnosis of the hidden hearing loss. However, there is no normative data conducted from a simple noise condition for the clinical setting yet. The purpose of the present study was to compare the data of ABR under quiet condition with those under noisy conditions and to confirm the feasibility of these data in the clinic.
Subjects and Method
A total of 104 young listeners with normal hearing (53 female and 51 male) participated. After completing the hearing screening tests, they were given the ABR measure with 75 dB nHL click stimulus under quiet condition, and with a level of 85 dB nHL white noise via a speaker. Absolute latencies and amplitudes of the waves were statistically compared against test condition and gender.
Results
There was a significant difference of the latency and amplitude between the quiet and noisy conditions. Under the noise, the absolute latencies of the waves I-V were delayed, and their amplitudes were smaller compared to the quiet condition. Such patterns were revealed in both female and male subjects. However, the females had shorter latencies and larger amplitudes than the male participants regardless of noise.
Conclusion
We confirmed stable ABR data using simple white noise setting. In the following study, patients with various pathologies should be applied for the ABR under noisy condition and have their data standardized according to sensitivity and specificity.

Keyword

Amplitude; Auditory brainstem responses; Latency; Noise; Normal range