Auditory steady-state responses to multiple simultaneous stimuli in children with functional or sensorineural hearing loss

The goal of our study was to identify the role of auditory steady-state responses for hearing assessment in patients with functional hearing loss. The study design was to compare auditory steady-state response thresholds and standard pure-tone audiometry thresholds between patients with functional or sensorineural hearing loss. Subjects comprised 16 patients (24 ears) with functional hearing loss and 17 patients (24 ears) with sensorineural hearing loss. Differences and correlations between auditory steady-state response thresholds and standard pure-tone audiometry thresholds at 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000 Hz were evaluated. In children with functional hearing loss, pure-tone audiometry thresholds and auditory steady-state response thresholds were significantly different at all frequencies and were not significantly correlated. In patients with sensorineural hearing loss, pure-tone audiometry thresholds and auditory steady-state response thresholds did not differ significantly at any frequencies and were significantly correlated. Auditory steady-state responses may have principal role in the assessment of auditory brainstem acuity, particularly at low frequencies in patients with functional hearing loss.     

Evidence of subtle auditory deficit in a group of patients recovered from bacterial meningitis.

OBJECTIVES: Sensorineural hearing loss of greater than 30 dB hearing loss occurs in up to 30% of patients after acute bacterial meningitis. This study investigated whether postbacterial meningitic patients with no apparent clinical sensorineural hearing loss had any evidence of more subtle subclinical cochlear deficit. DESIGN: Prospective case-controlled clinical trial. SETTING: Departments of Otolaryngology in Leicester and Nottingham, England, UK. PATIENTS: Fifty-eight controls and 20 postbacterial meningitic patients aged between 18 and 38 years were screened by a questionnaire and tympanometry to exclude hearing loss attributable to other causes. All participants fell below the 90th percentile pure-tone audiometry threshold of the Lutman and Davis UK data sets. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In both ears, standard (0.25-8 kHz) pure-tone audiometry, high-frequency pure-tone audiometry (10-16 kHz), and distortion product otoacoustic emissions at 2, 4, and 6 kHz were measured. RESULTS: Mean thresholds over the range of standard pure-tone audiometry (analyzed independently) for the postbacterial meningitic patients were significantly elevated at most frequencies (p < 0.05-p < 0.001) between 4 and 7 dB in both ears above control group values. There was no evidence of significant high-frequency threshold elevation (10-16 kHz). The mean iso-distortion product values at 2, 4, and 6 kHz were elevated in both ears in the meningitis group; significantly so (p < 0.05-p < 0.01) at all three frequencies in the right ear and at 4 kHz in the left. CONCLUSIONS: Postbacterial meningitic patients with hearing below the 90th percentile range had a slight but significant subclinical threshold elevation over the standard pure-tone audiometry. This may reflect a real effect of the infection at the level of the cochlea, or it may be attributable to a mild residual cognitive defect. The moderate increases in iso-distortion product values are more likely to be real and reflect an effect on outer hair cell function in response to lower stimulus intensities.     

Correlations between audiogram and objective hearing tests in sensorineural hearing loss

Owing to its subjective nature, behavioral pure-tone audiometry often is an unreliable testing method in uncooperative subjects, and assessing the true hearing threshold becomes difficult. In such cases, objective tests are used for hearing-threshold determination (i.e., auditory brainstem evoked potentials [ABEP] and frequency-specific auditory evoked potentials: slow negative response at 10 msec [SN-10]). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between pure-tone audiogram shape and the predictive accuracy of SN-10 and ABEP in normal controls and in patients suffering from sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). One-hundred-and-fifty subjects aged 15 to 70, some with normal hearing and the remainder with SNHL, were tested prospectively in a double-blind design. The battery of tests included pure-tone audiometry (air and bone conduction), speech reception threshold, ABEP, and SN-10. Patients with SNHL were divided into four categories according to audiogram shape (i.e., flat, ascending, descending, and all other shapes). The results showed that ABEP predicts behavioral thresholds at 3 kHz and 4 kHz in cases of high-frequency hearing loss. Also demonstrated was that ABEP threshold estimation at 3 kHz was not affected significantly by audiogram contour. A good correlation was observed between SN-10 and psychoacoustic thresholds at 1 kHz, the only exception being the group of subjects with ascending audiogram, in which SN-10 overestimated the hearing threshold.     

儿童chirp听性脑干反应与行为测听的相关性

目的 采用chirp信号作为声刺激进行听性脑干反应(ABR)测试,观察chirp ABR阈值与行为测听的相关性,探讨chirp ABR作为儿童临床客观听力评估的可行性.方法 选择2007年8月至9月佛山市听觉语言康复中心的听力障碍儿童和广州市儿童医院听力门诊的正常听力儿童共22例(共35耳)作为研究对象,分别进行行为测听和chirp ABR测试,并对chirp ABR反应阈和行为测听阈值进行Pearson相关性分析.结果 22例接受测试儿童中男14例,女8例,年龄3.3～6.5岁,平均年龄4.8岁.纳入研究的35耳中,正常听力6耳,听力损失轻度2耳、中度4耳、重度10耳、极重度13耳.行为测听0.5、1、2、4 kHz平均听阈与chirp ABR阈值,0.5 kHz听阈与L-chirp ABR阈值,1～4kHz平均听阈与U-chirp ABR阈值之间的相关系数分别为0.939,0.900及0.930,P值均<0.05.结论 chirp ABR作为一种客观测听技术,能够较好地反映儿童的听力水平,有希望应用到临床工作中.     

听神经病106例听力学分析

目的 分析106例听神经病患者的临床特点和听力学测试结果.探讨听神经病纯音听力图和听性脑干反应(ABR)的特点.方法 回顾性分析2001年12月至2007年5月就诊的106例(212耳)听神经病患者的症状及纯音听阈、声导抗图及镫骨肌反射、ABR、畸变产物耳声发射(DPOAE)和颅脑影像学检查的结果.结果 患者中男54例,女52例;年龄11～37岁,以青少年居多(75例,70.8%).伴有其他外周神经病者8例,伴视神经病者4例,未查出明确病因者94例.患者均为双耳发病.在212耳中,有173耳(81.6%)听力下降最多的频率为0.25 kHz和0.5 kHz.轻至中度听力损失共209耳(98.6%),均为感音神经性听力损失.按WHO(1997)听阈的均值计算法统计,本组有49耳(23.1%)的听阈≤25 dB,按WHO推荐的听力减退分级标准,使这些有听力障碍的病耳列入了正常范围.212耳听性脑干反应的测试中,各波形皆未引出者124耳(58.5%),余88耳有1或2个波未引出,而可引出的波的波幅很小,但有重复性.在1或2个可引出小波病例中,有23例其另1侧耳各波皆缺失.另有2例伴其他周围神经病和1例伴视神经病的患者,其双耳均有1或2个小波可引出.畸变产物耳声发射除1例左侧3～6 kHz,右侧5～6 kHz未引出外,余均可引出.结论 听神经病在青少年中并不罕见.因听神经病大多以低频听力下降为主,对听神经病患者平均听阈的计算方法值得讨论.     

Using a combination of click- and tone burst-evoked auditory brain stem response measurements to estimate pure-tone thresholds

DESIGN: A retrospective medical record review of evoked potential and audiometric data were used to determine the accuracy with which click-evoked and tone burst-evoked auditory brain stem response (ABR) thresholds predict pure-tone audiometric thresholds. METHODS: The medical records were reviewed of a consecutive group of patients who were referred for ABR testing for audiometric purposes over the past 4 yrs. ABR thresholds were measured for clicks and for several tone bursts, including a single-cycle, Blackman-windowed, 250-Hz tone burst, which has a broad spectrum with little energy above 600 Hz. Typically, the ABR data were collected because the patients were unable to provide reliable estimates of hearing sensitivity, based on behavioral test techniques, due to developmental level. Data were included only if subsequently obtained behavioral audiometric data were available to which the ABR data could be compared. Almost invariably, the behavioral data were collected after the ABR results were obtained. Because of this, data were included on only those ears for which middle ear tests (tympanometry, otoscopic examination, pure-tone air- and bone-conduction thresholds) indicated that middle ear status was similar at the times of both tests. With these inclusion criteria, data were available on 140 ears of 77 subjects. RESULTS: Correlation was 0.94 between click-evoked ABR thresholds and the average pure-tone threshold at 2 and 4 kHz. Correlations exceeded 0.92 between ABR thresholds for the 250-Hz tone burst and low-frequency behavioral thresholds (250 Hz, 500 Hz, and the average pure-tone thresholds at 250 and 500 Hz). Similar or higher correlations were observed when ABR thresholds at other frequencies were compared with the pure-tone thresholds at corresponding frequencies. Differences between ABR and behavioral threshold depended on behavioral threshold, with ABR thresholds overestimating behavioral threshold in cases of normal hearing and underestimating behavioral threshold in cases of hearing loss. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ABR thresholds can be used to predict pure-tone behavioral thresholds for a wide range of frequencies. Although controversial, the data reviewed in this paper suggest that click-evoked ABR thresholds result in reasonable predictions of the average behavioral thresholds at 2 and 4 kHz. However, there were cases for which click-evoked ABR thresholds underestimated hearing loss at these frequencies. There are several other reasons why click-evoked ABR measurements were made, including that they (1) generally result in well-formed responses, (2) assist in determining whether auditory neuropathy exists, and (3) can be obtained in a relatively brief amount of time. Low-frequency thresholds were predicted well by ABR thresholds to a single-cycle, 250-Hz tone burst. In combination, click-evoked and low-frequency tone burst-evoked ABR threshold measurements might be used to quickly provide important clinical information for both ends of the audiogram. These measurements could be supplemented by ABR threshold measurements at other frequencies, if time permits. However, it may be possible to plan initial intervention strategies based on data for these two stimuli.     

听神经病的临床与听功能特征

目的:探讨听神经病的临床与听功能特征。方法:总结分析54例听神经病患者的临床资料、听力学测试及电生理检查情况。结果:纯音听力图呈上升型70耳,覆盆型25耳,平坦型5耳,下降型4耳;低频、中频及高频平均阈值为(67.63±15.30,43.61±16.28,32.25±14.80)dB HL。声导抗鼓室图全部正常,77耳镫骨肌声反射消失,31耳声反射阈部分增高。听性脑干反应(ABR)全部未引出。畸变产物耳声发射(DPOAE)正常引出,26例行对侧声抑制未受影响。16例言语识别率差,与纯音听阈不成比例。23例颞骨CT或MRI未见异常。10例伴有周围神经病。结论:ABR自波Ⅰ起缺失而DPOAE正常引出,言语分辨力差与纯音听阈不成比例,镫骨肌声反射及OAE交叉抑制异常,纯音听力图多呈上升型以低频损失为主,是听神经病听功能的重要特征。提示病损主要位于耳蜗内听神经纤维。应与一般的感音神经性聋和中枢性聋相鉴别。     

82例耳鸣患者半倍频程频率纯音测听的特征及意义

目的 :观察常规倍频程纯音测听听阈无异常的耳鸣患者的半倍频程频率测试结果并探讨其特征及临床意义。方法 :应用纯音听力计对 82例 (14 0耳 )倍频程纯音测听听阈无异常的耳鸣组患者和 30例 (6 0耳 )正常对照组进行半倍频程频率测试。结果 :耳鸣组 14 0耳中 ,发现 37.14 %存在听力下降 ;主要为高频下降 ;大多为轻度下降 ;下降的频率与耳鸣频率有高度一致性 ;耳鸣的强度 (dBSL)与听力下降与否无关。结论 :半倍频程频率测试方法可为倍频程纯音测听听阈无异常的耳鸣患者早期听力损害的检出提供直接参考依据 ,对临床早期发现其潜在的耳蜗病变有积极意义     

Tone burst stimulus for auditory brainstem responses: Prediction of hearing threshold at 1 kHz

Objective

To assess differences in hearing threshold estimation of four different ABR tone-bursts at 1 kHz.

Methods

Twenty-one (21) ears from 11 subjects were tested with pure-tone audiometry (PTA): 5 ears (24%) were normal hearing, 5 (24%) affected by mild hearing loss, 7 (33%) showed moderate hearing loss and 4 (19%) severe hearing loss. After PTA each subject underwent tone-burst ABR test at 1 kHz using a linear gated (L_ABR) or Blackman windowed (B_ABR) stimuli with (nn_ABR) and without ipsilateral notched noise. Stimulation rate and filters settings were unchanged.

Results

Overall correlation between PTA and all ABRs thresholds was high, ranging from 0.84 to 0.94. In normal hearing ears none of the differences was significant, except for those measured with B_nn_ABR, which showed a mean 16 dB overestimation of the pure-tone threshold (p < 0.05). In mild hearing loss group none of the differences between thresholds were significant. In moderate and severe hearing loss groups significant differences were measured with L_nn_ABR (p < 0.05) with a mean 7.5 dB underestimation of PTA.

Conclusions

Although very similar, some significant differences were found when considering specific group of patients with different degrees of hearing loss.     

尿毒症患者听力状况及其影响因素研究

目的观察尿毒症患者的听力状况,探讨引起尿毒症患者听力下降的原因。方法采用纯音测听和高刺激率ABR对30例（60耳）尿毒症患者及31例（62耳）非尿毒症者进行测试,用SPSS19．0软件进行统计分析。结果30例尿毒症患者中有26例伴有不同程度的听力下降,其中19例听力曲线为下降型,5例为平坦型,2例为单侧全聋和另侧下降型。尿毒症组内纯音测听结果与肌酐水平无相关（P〉0．05）。与尿素氨水平为负相关（P=0．011）,高刺激率ABR与纯音测听结果无相关（P〉0．05）。尿毒症组和对照组间高刺激率ABR波I～V潜伏期的差值有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。结论尿毒症患者的听力下降是以高频为主的下降型曲线,内耳血供不足是导致尿毒症患者听力障碍的一个主要因素。     

先天性外耳和中耳畸形患者的听力学分析

目的探讨不同程度的先天性外、中耳畸形患者的听力学表现。方法对55例(双耳15例,单耳40例,共70耳)先天性外、中耳畸形患者行纯音测听、听性脑干反应(ABR)和颞骨CT检查,其中45耳行外耳或中耳成形术,10耳单纯行耳廓成形术,并结合术中所见按不同程度的畸形分组,比较其听力学改变。结果63耳纯音测听显示为传导性聋,骨导听阈正常,70耳ABR反应阈升高,耳廓和听骨链畸形严重者纯音听阈值大于70dB(其中镫骨和卵圆窗畸形严重者纯音听阈大于80dB),与畸形程度较轻者差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。乳突气化差、外耳道骨性闭锁者纯音听阈值大于70dB(其中外耳道口处无骨性小凹者纯音听阈值大于70dB),较外耳道、乳突发育好者差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论对先天性外、中耳畸形患者术前进行纯音测听、ABR检查,并结合临床和颞骨CT检查,可初步评估外耳、中耳发育程度,进而指导手术治疗。     

Audiometric estimation error with the ABR in high risk infants

Click ABR wave V thresholds in the first year were compared with follow-up behavioural pure-tone audiometry under earphones at age 3 to 6 years in 713 infants (yielding 1,367 ears) at risk for hearing loss. The observed accuracy of the ABR depends strongly on the precise definitions of the target disorder and the test abnormality criteria. For sensorineural hearing loss of more than 20 dB averaged at 2 kHz and 4 kHz, the click ABR provides an accurate test, with both false positive and false negative rates of less than 10%, using an ABR threshold criterion of 30 dB nHL. The false positive error rate can be at least halved by using a simple rule for wave V latency that discriminates conductive and sensorineural ABR threshold abnormalities. False negative errors may be explicable in terms of the lack of frequency specificity of the click stimulus.     

听神经病的临床表现和听力学检查结果分析

目的 探讨听神经病的临床表现和听力学特征。方法 分析23例听神经 临床表现、纯音听阈、声导抗、言语听力、听性脑干反应（ABR）和畸变产物耳声发射（DPOAE）检查。结果 听神经病多发于青少年,妇性多于男性。纯音听阈呈轻、中度升高,以双耳对称的上升型听阈图为主。言语识别率显著下降,且与纯音听阈不成比例。同侧、对侧镫骨肌反射引不出,ABR明显异常,DPOAE正常或基本正常。结论 听神经病的临床表现和系统的听力学检查有其显著特征,不仅对认识该病,而且对明确诊断有重要意义。     

cis-platinum ototoxicity in children

Despite the recognized ototoxicity of cis-platinum, a clinical outline for the audiologic evaluation of patients receiving this drug has not been clearly defined. In a practical approach to this problem, the audiograms of 48 pediatric patients referred for monitoring during planned cis-platinum therapy were reviewed. Eleven patients tested with auditory brain-stem response (ABR) audiometry demonstrated several limitations of this modality. Fourteen children underwent initial ABR testing followed by at least two pure-tone audiograms. The remaining 23 patients had their hearing evaluated by pure-tone audiometry only. Various factors such as patient age, cis-platinum dosage, and cranial radiation exposure were analyzed for apparent effect. Younger patients tended to be more susceptible to audiologic changes with the administration of cis-platinum. The proportion of patients who demonstrated a hearing loss increased with successive dosing as did the severity of the hearing loss. Prior exposure to cranial radiation was strongly linked to the development of hearing loss following cis-platinum therapy. Guidelines are presented regarding the use of clinical audiometry in the screening of these pediatric oncology patients.     

Dead regions in the cochlea at 4 kHz in elderly adults: relation to absolute threshold, steepness of audiogram, and pure-tone average

The aims of this study were (1) to investigate the prevalence of dead regions (DRs) at 4 kHz in elderly people with hearing loss and (2) to determine the extent to which the presence/absence of a DR can be predicted from the absolute threshold, the slope of the audiogram, or the pure-tone average (PTA) hearing loss at 0.5, 1, and 2 kHz. DRs were assessed for 98 ears with absolute thresholds between 60 and 85 dB HL at 4 kHz using the threshold equalizing noise test. Thirty-six ears had a DR at 4 kHz. There was no statistically significant difference in the slope of the audiogram or PTA between ears with and without DRs. However, the mean absolute threshold at 4 kHz was significantly higher for the group with DRs than for the group without DRs. The prevalence of DRs exceeded 50% for hearing losses greater than 70 dB.     

Pure-tone and speech audiometry in patients with Menière's disease.

The aim of this study was to reinvestigate many of the claims in the literature about hearing loss in patients with Menière's disease. We carried this out on a well-defined group of patients under well-controlled circumstances. Thus, we were able to find support for some claims and none for many others. As part of a diagnostic protocol, pure-tone and speech audiometry was performed on 111 patients with Menière's disease according to the 'Definition Menière Groningen'. This was a prospective clinical cohort study. Affected ears of patients suffering from Menière's disease show reduced hearing, both in pure-tone and in speech audiometry. A classification method was devised to determine audiogram shape in an objective manner. The results of this method indicate that affected ears more frequently show 'low' or 'low + high' hearing losses (P = 0.006). The shape of the hearing loss does not depend on the duration of the affection of the disease. In combination with the fact that the average hearing loss does not correlate with the duration of the disease, this leads to the conclusion that, if a classification of the hearing loss in Menière's disease is possible, such a classification cannot be connected to the duration. This conclusion is further supported by the fact that no relationship is found between the duration of the disease and the classification of the hearing loss over the 3 months before hospital admission, as given by the patients in a questionnaire. A relationship between the (objective) audiometric data and the (subjective) classification of the hearing loss by the patient seems to be present, but is not very strong. Correlations between pure-tone and speech audiometry are present as in non-Menière ears (r = 0.899, P < 0.001), and no indications are found of reduced speech discrimination relative to the expectation based on pure-tone loss. The audiogram shape does not appear to play any additional role in speech discrimination (in addition to the influence of the average pure-tone loss).     

Conductive hearing loss assessment in children with otitis media with effusion. A comparison of pure tone and BERA results

A comparison between pure-tone audiometry and brainstem electric response audiometry was made in 25 children with a conductive hearing loss due to otitis media with effusion. Pure-tone audiometry, including bone and air-conduction thresholds, was recorded using standard procedures. BERA was used to construct a latency-intensity function and from this the conductive hearing loss could be estimated. For all frequencies except for 2000 Hz a good correlation was found between the conductive loss in the pure-tone audiogram and the conductive loss as estimated by BERA. The moderate correlation for 2000 Hz is due to a 'Carhart'-notch-like phenomenon in the pure-tone audiogram.     

Lesion site in sudden deafness: study with electrocochleography and transiently evoked otoacoustic emission

We examined electrocochleogram (ECochG) and transiently evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) on five cases of sudden sensorineural hearing loss which had no abnormalities detected on diagnostic imagings and showed complete recovery of hearing. At the initial examination, three cases showed a broadened wave 1 with prolonged latency in the auditory brainstem response (ABR) at 90 dB HL. The ECochG AP showed a broad waveform, low amplitude, and high threshold. CM threshold, although increased, was relatively well preserved compared with hearing threshold measured with conventional pure-tone audiometry. The thresholds in TEOAE examination were similar to those for CM and preserved better when compared with pure-tone audiometric thresholds. These findings suggest that the location of the disorder in these three cases involved not only the cochlea but also the retrocochlear auditory pathway. The other two cases showed normal ABR waveforms at 90 dB HL at the initial examinations. ECochG examination showed that a normal AP in one case and a smaller amplitude AP, an elevated threshold, and normal waveform of AP in the other ear. CM thresholds coincided with the conventional audiometry thresholds. These findings suggest that hearing loss in these two cases involved primarily the sensory hair cells.     

浅睡眠状态下的行为观察测听

目的 分别测试低龄儿双耳的听力状况.方法 对327名婴幼儿进行浅睡眠状态下的行为观察测听,并与click声刺激ABR结果进行比较;其中有58名婴幼儿一段时间后再进行游戏测听和纯音测听.结果 浅睡眠状态下的行为观察测听在2 kHz和4 kHz的平均反应阈与ABR的反应阈相当,但比跟踪测得的同频率纯音听阈值高约5～10 dB HL.结论 浅睡眠状态下的行为观察测听可分别测得低龄儿的双耳听反应阈.     

Audiometric predictions using stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emissions and middle ear measurements

OBJECTIVE: The goals of the study are to determine how well stimulus-frequency otoacoustic emissions (SFOAEs) identify hearing loss, classify hearing loss as mild or moderate-severe, and correlate with pure-tone thresholds in a population of adults with normal middle ear function. Other goals are to determine if middle ear function as assessed by wideband acoustic transfer function (ATF) measurements in the ear canal account for the variability in normal thresholds, and if the inclusion of ATFs improves the ability of SFOAEs to identify hearing loss and predict pure-tone thresholds. DESIGN: The total suppressed SFOAE signal and its corresponding noise were recorded in 85 ears (22 normal ears and 63 ears with sensorineural hearing loss) at octave frequencies from 0.5 to 8 kHz, using a nonlinear residual method. SFOAEs were recorded a second time in three impaired ears to assess repeatability. Ambient-pressure ATFs were obtained in all but one of these 85 ears and were also obtained from an additional 31 normal-hearing subjects in whom SFOAE data were not obtained. Pure-tone air and bone conduction thresholds and 226-Hz tympanograms were obtained on all subjects. Normal tympanometry and the absence of air-bone gaps were used to screen subjects for normal middle ear function. Clinical decision theory was used to assess the performance of SFOAE and ATF predictors in classifying ears as normal or impaired, and linear regression analysis was used to test the ability of SFOAE and ATF variables to predict the air conduction audiogram. RESULTS: The ability of SFOAEs to classify ears as normal or hearing impaired was significant at all test frequencies. The ability of SFOAEs to classify impaired ears as either mild or moderate-severe was significant at test frequencies from 0.5 to 4 kHz. SFOAEs were present in cases of severe hearing loss. SFOAEs were also significantly correlated with air conduction thresholds from 0.5 to 8 kHz. The best performance occurred with the use of the SFOAE signal-to-noise ratio as the predictor, and the overall best performance was at 2 kHz. The SFOAE signal-to-noise measures were repeatable to within 3.5 dB in impaired ears. The ATF measures explained up to 25% of the variance in the normal audiogram; however, ATF measures did not improve SFOAEs predictors of hearing loss except at 4 kHz. CONCLUSIONS: In common with other OAE types, SFOAEs are capable of identifying the presence of hearing loss. In particular, SFOAEs performed better than distortion-product and click-evoked OAEs in predicting auditory status at 0.5 kHz; SFOAE performance was similar to that of other OAE types at higher frequencies except for a slight performance reduction at 4 kHz. Because SFOAEs were detected in ears with mild to severe cases of hearing loss, they may also provide an estimate of the classification of hearing loss. Although SFOAEs were significantly correlated with hearing threshold, they do not appear to have clinical utility in predicting a specific behavioral threshold. Information on middle ear status as assessed by ATF measures offered minimal improvement in SFOAE predictions of auditory status in a population of normal and impaired ears with normal middle ear function. However, ATF variables did explain a significant fraction of the variability in the audiograms of normal ears, suggesting that audiometric thresholds in normal ears are partially constrained by middle ear function as assessed by ATF tests.