THE INFLUENCE OF SPONTANEOUS OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS ON THE AMPLITUDE OF TRANSIENT-EVOKED EMISSIONS

The aim of the study was to analyse whether the presence of spontaneou s otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) in a group of normal-hearing adults is related to larger transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) ampli tudes when compared to a similar adult population without SOAEs. Twent y-four normal-hearing subjects participated in the investigation. They were selected to form two groups of 12, one containing only subjects with measurable spontaneous emissions, the other of members who had no measurable spontaneous emissions. Each group comprised 7 males and 5 females. TEOAEs were recorded in both linear and non-linear mode, and equivalent sound pressure levels in different octave frequency bands w ere calculated. For each frequency band, the comparison of the equival ent sound pressure levels in the two selected groups showed statistica lly significant differences. Therefore, when normative TEOAE data were collected with the purpose of establishing a normative reference for the assessment of cochlear hearing loss, it is mandatory to search for and, when pertinent, to compensate for the presence of SOAEs.