The clinical utility of narrow-band chirp auditory brainstem responses: inter- rater reliability and threshold estimation.

Background Tone-burst auditory brainstem responses (TB ABR) have traditionally been used to estimate the configuration of hearing loss in infants. However, more recent studies show that narrow-band (NB) chirps have several advantages over TB ABR. This study compares the reliability of NB-chirp and TB ABR. Methods ABRs were obtained in 23 adults using TBs and NB chirps with center frequencies at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. First, we assessed inter-rater reliability of NB-chirp and TB ABR. Second, we compared signal-to- noise ratios of TB and NB-chirp ABR. Finally, we compared thresholds obtained by pure-tone audiometry, TB ABR, and NB-chirp ABR. Results Good inter-rater reliability was found for all frequencies. This holds true at maximal as well as threshold level. A preliminary analysis suggests that NB chirps elicits better responses than TBs for all center frequencies except 0.5 kHz, which seems to be difficult to interpret for both TBs and NB chirps. Conclusions NB chirps can be obtained with good inter-rater reliability. Further statistical analyses and comparisons between behavioral, TB ABR, and NB-chirp ABR thresholds will be presented and discussed.

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