Comparison Of Three Frequency-specific Auditory Evoked Potentials In Adults

Objective： The present study compared of three frequency specific auditory evokedpotentials and pure-tone behavioral thresholds in estimating hearing thresholds of adults,and evaluated how well the three methods predict behavioral thresholds in the sameparticipants, thus to provide basic data for the objective assessment of hearing thresholds.Methods： The three frequency specific auditory evoked potentials (40Hz auditoryevent related potential response, tone burst auditory brainstem response, auditory steady-state response)thresholds and pure tone audiometry(PTA) thresholds were recorded andcompared in34adults with normal hearing (68ears),and89adults with impaired hearingat0.5to4kHz. Then, the relationship and difference between the AEP response thresholdsand PTA thresholds were analyzed in different frequencies and groups respectively.Results： ALL the Three AEP response thresholds had high correlations to PTAthreshold in normal hearing and impaired hearing adults at0.5～4kHz.In both groups, the existence of differences between40Hz AERP, Tb-ABR, ASSRthresholds and PTA thresholds, the AEP thresholds were all higher than PTA thresholds,and the differences were statistically significant.In normal hearing group: at0.5kHz, the tinnest difference was shown between40HzAERP and PTA,and the difference with the other two methods were statistically significant;at1kHz,The differences between ASSR、40Hz AERP and PTA were similar, and thedifferences were not statistically significant; at2、4kHz, the tinnest differences were bothshown between ASSR and PTA,and the differences with the other two methods werestatistically significant. In hearing impaired group: at0.5、1kHz, the tinnest differenceswere both shown between40Hz AERP and PTA,and the differences with the other two methods were statistically significant; at2、4kHz, although the tinnest differences wereboth shown between Tb-ABR and PTA, the differences were not statistically significant;Conclusion： The three frequency specificity AEP could be used in forensic medicineby calibrating response threshold. But we should choose different objective methods toassess the behavioral thresholds of commonly used frequencies for improving the accuracyof predicting behavioral threshold.From the differences and correlations into account,at0.5、1kHz,we could select40Hz AERP, and at2、4kHz,Tb-ABR or ASSR both could bechosen.