THE HEARING THRESHOLD LEVELS OF CHILDREN AT SCHOOL-AGE

Objective: To measure the hearing threshold levels by air conduction i n a group of unselected and a group of selected (otologically normal) school-aged children. Design: Six hundred eighty-seven unselected scho ol children representing three age groups and 471 selected, otological ly normal children were examined by pure-tone audiometry. Results: The obtained results showed that hearing levels improved with age from 7 to 10 yr in children in both groups. The pure-tone averages (PTAs) of the right and the left ear in otologically normal children were, respe ctively, 1.8 and 1.2 dB HL in 7-yr-old children, -0.9 and -1.7 dB HL i n 10-yr-old children, and -1.3 and -2.0 dB HL in 14-yr-old children. T he PTAs were 0.2 to 1.9 dB poorer in the groups of unselected children . Conclusions: The present study provides new data on the hearing sens itivity among unselected 7-, 10-, and 14-yr-old school children. Furth ermore, it provides normative values on the hearing thresholds of otol ogically normal children in these three age groups.