Predizione della soglia uditiva mediante la reflessologia stapediale: confronto di cinque metodiche

The authors compared the effectiveness of the tests proposed by Niemeyer-Sesterhenn, Jerger, Hall, Popelka-Margolis-Wiley and Sesterhenn-Breuninger's in defining the auditory threshold by means of impedance tests. They have examined 20 normal hearers, whose age ranged between 16 and 29, and 40 patients between 54 and 68, affected by sensorineural hearing loss. The overall number of tested ears was 113, as 2 normal and 5 hypoacusic ears had to be excluded because of tympanometric alterations. According to the first four formulas, the reflex thresholds for pure tones, white noise and low- and high-pass noise were obtained, while according to Sesterhenn-Breuninger's test a simultaneous reactivating was employed. The data we obtained prove that, at present, no test shows an accuracy greater thank 80-88% at +-20 dB and that the tests that classify the patients in large groups (mild, moderate, severe, profound hearing loss) are on the whole more reliable than those which tend to predict a frequency-specific threshold (Sesterhenn-Breuninger's). Nevertheless, Niemeyer-Sesterhenn.s test appears to be the most accurate in evaluating auditory threshold in hypoacusis patients, while Jerger's SPAR I is the most reliable in normal hearers.