Stimulus and transducer effects on threshold.

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Stimulus and transducer effects on threshold.

Int J Audiol. 2015 Feb;54 Suppl 1:S19-29

Authors: Flamme GA, Geda K, McGregor KD, Wyllys K, Deiters KK, Murphy WJ, Stephenson MR

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study examined differences in thresholds obtained under Sennheiser HDA200 circumaural earphones using pure tone, equivalent rectangular noise bands, and 1/3 octave noise bands relative to thresholds obtained using Telephonics TDH-39P supra-aural earphones.
DESIGN: Thresholds were obtained via each transducer and stimulus condition six times within a 10-day period.
STUDY SAMPLE: Forty-nine adults were selected from a prior study to represent low, moderate, and high threshold reliability.
RESULTS: The results suggested that (1) only small adjustments were needed to reach equivalent TDH-39P thresholds, (2) pure-tone thresholds obtained with HDA200 circumaural earphones had reliability equal to or better than those obtained using TDH-39P earphones, (3) the reliability of noise-band thresholds improved with broader stimulus bandwidth and was either equal to or better than pure-tone thresholds, and (4) frequency-specificity declined with stimulus bandwidths greater than one equivalent rectangular band, which could complicate early detection of hearing changes that occur within a narrow frequency range.
CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that circumaural earphones such as the HDA200 headphones provide better reliability for audiometric testing as compared to the TDH-39P earphones. These data support the use of noise bands, preferably ERB noises, as stimuli for audiometric monitoring.

PMID: 25549164 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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