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Semin Hear 2007; 28(4): 303-318
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-990717
© Thieme Medical Publishers

Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission Levels and Input/Output-Growth Functions in Normal-Hearing Individuals with Tinnitus and/or Hyperacusis

Grazyna Bartnik1 , Monica L. Hawley3 , Marek Rogowski1 , 2 , Danuta Raj-Koziak1 , Anna Fabijanska1 , Craig Formby3 , 4
  • 1The Tinnitus Clinic at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland
  • 2Medical University of Bialystok, Department of Otolaryngology, Bialystok, Poland
  • 3University of Maryland Tinnitus & Hyperacusis Center and Department of Otorhinolaryngology-HNS, University of Maryland School of Mediciane, Baltimore, Maryland
  • 4Present address: College of Arts & Science, Engineering and Medicine, Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
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Publication Date:
17 October 2007 (online)

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine whether distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) can be used to distinguish among four groups with audiometrically normal-hearing sensitivity: (1) control adults without tinnitus or hyperacusis, (2) patients with tinnitus alone, (3) patients with hyperacusis alone, and (4) patients with both tinnitus and hyperacusis. Two types of DPOAE measures were evaluated: (1) the distortion product- (DP-) gram measured with fixed primary levels as a function of frequency, and (2) DPOAE input/output (I/O) functions for a range of primary levels between 45 and 70 dB sound pressure level (SPL) at 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. DP-grams did not clearly distinguish between the control and patient groups. There was, however, a consistent trend for the three patient groups to have decreased average DP levels at 4000 and 6000 Hz; this notch in the DP-gram was not observed in the response configuration for the control group. In the three patient groups, 51 to 74% of these individuals had DP levels that were outside of the 95% confidence range for the control group. The average slopes of the I/O growth functions for each of the patient groups were consistently steeper than those for the control group; however, the slope values were indistinguishable among the patient groups. About 60% of the patients' DPOAE responses (in each group) were categorized as abnormal based on their slope values. Thus, DPOAE measures can be used with at least partial success to distinguish controls from patients with tinnitus, hyperacusis, or both tinnitus and hyperacusis, but not to discriminate among the respective patient groups. These findings suggest that the pathology represented among the patient groups is consistent at the level of the cochlea; however, diagnostic tests targeted at higher centers of processing are needed if the individuals in these groups are to be distinguished among themselves.

KEYWORDS

Tinnitus - hyperacusis - distortion product otoacoustic emissions - DPOAE

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Craig FormbyPh.D. 

Dept. of Communicative Disorders, University of Alabama

700 University Blvd., Rm 1451, Box 870242, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0242

Email: cformby@as.ua.edu