Test-retest reliability of tone-burst-evoked otoacoustic emissions

In this study, the short- and long-term test-retest reliabilities of tone-b urst-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TBOAEs) with 12 different tone-burst sti muli (4 frequencies [1, 1.5, 2 and 3 kHz] at 3 stimulus levels [ approximat e to 76, approximate to 67 and approximate to 55 dB peSPL]) were examined i n 30 normal hearing subjects. Click-evoked and spontaneous OAEs were record ed in parallel with TBOAEs to facilitate cross-comparisons and the generali zation of results. Findings for click-evoked and spontaneous OAEs were comp arable with most literature data. High reliability for TBOAEs was establish ed for high and mid stimulus levels at all frequencies tested with referenc e to test-retest prevalence rate, test-retest occurrence, intra-subject tes t-retest difference and correlation coefficient. Derived half-octave band a nalysis at the Frequency corresponding to the stimulus was found to reflect real TBOAE performance more reliably than broadband analysis. No significa nt difference between short- and long-term reliabilities was noted from all results. Similar lest-retest reliabilities for high-level TBOAEs and click -evoked OAEs was obtained, suggesting that TBOAEs could potentially contrib ute to clinical assessment.