| Abstract: | Objective assessment of auditory thresholds in noise‐induced hearing loss using steady‐state evoked potentials The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether steady‐state evoked potential (SSEP) can be used for objective estimation of auditory thresholds in patients with noise‐induced hearing loss (NIHL). Eleven subjects (22 ears) with a characteristic audiometric notch between 3000 and 6000 Hz participated in this study. Both pure‐tone thresholds and SSEP thresholds were obtained for each ear of all subjects. The correlation of SSEP thresholds and pure‐tone thresholds was assessed. The results show that SSEP thresholds predicted pure‐tone thresholds with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.86, 0.92, 0.94 and 0.95 at 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz respectively. Typically, the SSEP thresholds overestimate the pure‐tone thresholds by 10–20 dB, but they closely reflect the configuration of the audiogram. The strength of the relationship between SSEP and pure‐tone thresholds increased with increasing frequency and increasing degree of hearing loss. In conclusion, SSEP can be used as a reliable and objective tool to assess auditory thresholds in patients with noise‐induced hearing loss with high‐frequency dips. |
