Abstract
Objectives:To compare the hearing thresholds obtained with auditory brainstem response (ABR) and auditory steady state response (ASSR) audiometry in children with hearing loss.Methods:Hearing thresholds were obtained by ABR and ASSR in children who presented with suspicion of deafness at Ear, nose & throat department of Al-Nafees Medical College Hospital Islamabad, between January to August 2018. The mean hearing thresholds obtained by two tests were compared within each category of severity of deafness. Time taken by both tests was also compared.Results:A total of 57 patients (114 ears) were included in the study. Among them 27 (47.4%) were male and 30 (52.6%) were female. The mean age of patients at presentation was 42 months (±30.9) with age range from one to 12 years. Mean hearing thresholds obtained by click ABR, chirp ABR, ASSR (1, 2, 4 kHz) & ASSR (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz) was 56.25 (±27.61), 58.88 (±27.44), 58.03 (±21.26) & 56.35 (±22.86) respectively. Mean thresholds were comparable between click ABR & ASSR (1, 2, 4 kHz) and between chirp ABR & ASSR (0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz) in all degrees of hearing loss categories except in those patients with normal hearing thresholds. The mean time taken by clicks ABR, chirp ABR and ASSR were four minutes seven seconds, three minutes 15 seconds and 16 minutes and 7 seconds respectively.Conclusions:Hearing thresholds obtained by ABR and ASSR are comparable in all categories of severity of hearing loss. The time taken by ABR is less as compared to ASSR.
Highlights
Identification of hearing loss in infants and children is of utmost importance because normal hearing is essential for speech and intellectual development.[1]
The distribution of patients among various age groups is as follows: 29 in 0-3 years, 18 in 4-6 years, 8 in 7-9 years & only 2 in 10-12 years age groups. With both click & chirp auditory brainstem response (ABR) stimuli, response was observed in 43 ears (37.7%) whereas in 71 ears (63.3%) there was no response till the upper limit of stimulus intensity that can be presented with our equipment
Table-II: Comparison between mean click & chirp ABR hearing thresholds and mean auditory steady state responses (ASSR) thresholds according to degree of hearing loss
Summary
Identification of hearing loss in infants and children is of utmost importance because normal hearing is essential for speech and intellectual development.[1]. The most commonly used test for this purpose is auditory brainstem response (ABR).[2] ABR is well established and time tested objective audiological test for early identification of hearing loss but it provides limited frequency specific information.[3] Early auditory rehabilitation whether by modern hearing aids or by cochlear. Pak J Med Sci March - April 2019 Vol 35 No 2 www.pjms.org.pk 320 implants depends strongly on frequency specific hearing threshold information.[4] To overcome this limitation of ABR, a relatively new audiological investigation is gaining popularity in clinical audiological practice which can provide detailed frequency specific thresholds information. This objective audiological test is called auditory steady state responses (ASSR)
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