Objective: We evaluated conventional ASSR (Bio-logic MASTER II) and NB CE-Chirp ASSR thresholds as objective hearing measures in both normal and hearing loss subjects.
Methods: Patients with sensorineural hearing loss and volunteer normal hearing subjects were enrolled. Pure tone thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz were compared with the corresponding thresholds measured using Bio-logic MASTER II and the Eclipse ASSR systems. The threshold differences and correlation with pure tone were measured and reliability was evaluated with Cronbach's α. In part I of the study, all subjects were included, in part II of the study, only mild hearing loss and normal hearing subjects were included.
Results: In part I, NB CE-Chirp ASSR revealed a significantly smaller difference in threshold than conventional ASSR, a better correlation and better reliability. However, lower frequencies of NB CE-Chirp tended to be less reliable than higher frequencies. In part II, NB CE-Chirp revealed smaller threshold differences than conventional ASSR. Both correlation scores and reliability values were generally lower in the part II results.
Conclusion: NB CE-Chirp ASSR generally revealed more favorable outcomes. However, its reliability was reduced at lower frequencies and in patients with milder hearing loss.
Keywords: Auditory evoked potentials; Auditory steady-state response; Sensorineural hearing loss.
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