Abstract
There is a lack of clarity in the literature regarding the manifestation of the structural changes due to aging in the middle ear and the pathology which occurs in the elderly. In order to determine the incidence and manifestation of middle ear problems in an elderly group, acoustic immittance measurements and otoscopy were carried out on 94 subjects over the age of 65 years. Thirty eight percent of all the subjects tested had abnormal tympanometric results in one or both ears. These abnormal results were due to either pathologies which were medically diagnosed, or other unidentified factors such as possible structural changes in the middle ear as a result of increased age. Otoscopy and acoustic immittance measures should always be carried out as part of the test battery for the elderly.
Highlights
There is a lack of clarity in the literature regarding the manifestation of the structural changes due to aging in the middle ear and the pathology which occurs in the elderly
The same group of subjects was subjected to the test battery and each subject underwent the same procedure
OF RESULTS The manifestations of outer and middle ear pathology Outer and middle ear pathology occurred in 38% of all the ears tested
Summary
There is a lack of clarity in the literature regarding the manifestation of the structural changes due to aging in the middle ear and the pathology which occurs in the elderly. Blood and Greenburg (1977) examined the static acoustic immittance measurements in persons between the ages of 50 and 70 They found a significant decrease in values and concluded that there was a need for a different set of norms to be used when testing people over 70 years of age. These shortcomings in the literature have important implications for the audiologist If these structural changes in the middle ear have a significant effect on immittance measurement, a different set of acoustic impedance (immittance) norms would be necessary for the elderly. If these structural changes lead to an increase in pathology, the audiologist should identify potential dis-. These include structural changes of the auditory system (Wofford, 1981)
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