Pure-Tone Audiometry With Forward Pressure Level Calibration Leads to Clinically-Relevant Improvements in Test-Retest Reliability
Abstract
Clinical pure-tone audiometry is conducted using stimuli delivered through supra-aural headphones or insert earphones. The stimuli are calibrated in an acoustic (average ear) coupler. Deviations in individual-ear acoustics from the coupler acoustics affect test validity, and variations in probe insertion and headphone placement affect both test validity and test-retest reliability. Using an insert earphone designed for otoacoustic emission testing, which contains a microphone and loudspeaker, an individualized in-the-ear calibration can be calculated from the ear-canal sound pressure measured at the microphone. However, the total sound pressure level (SPL) measured at the microphone may be affected by standing-wave nulls at higher frequencies, producing errors in stimulus level of up to 20 dB. An alternative is to calibrate using the forward pressure level (FPL) component, which is derived from the total SPL using a wideband acoustic immittance measurement, and represents the pressure wave incident on the eardrum. The objective of this study is to establish test-retest reliability for FPL calibration of pure-tone audiometry stimuli, compared with in-the-ear and coupler sound pressure calibrations. The authors compared standard ...Continue Reading
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Test-retest reliability of distortion-product thresholds compared to behavioral auditory thresholds.
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