1998 Volume 41 Issue 4 Pages 323-333
Although objective audiometry as ABR is now widely used for early detection of hearing impairment in children, various methods of subjective audiometry are still indispensable to diagnose the nature and degree of hearing loss.
To investigate the applicable ages of different audiological examinations for children, we reviewed the results of 817 children who underwent audiological tests in Kanariya Gakuen (Auditory Center for Hearing Impaired Children in Okayama). Combinations of various procedures and number of each test required for determination of the hearing level in a child were analyzed. The different indications between the children with and without developmental retardation were also reported.
1) In the group without developmental retardation, behavioral observation audiometry (BOA), conditioned orientation reflex audiometry (COR), peep show test with a loudspeaker, peep show test with headphone, and play audiometry with Barr method (PA) were most applicable, respectively, to ages 0-1: 11 years old, ages 1:0-2:5, ages 2:0-3:5, ages 3:0-4:5, and ages 3:6-5:5.
In retarded group, the age suitable for each procedure was generally delayed and the length of each period uaried widely.
2) ABR, BOA, peep show test with loudspeaker, COR, peep show test with headphone, PA and standard audiometry were used respectively in decreasing frequency.
Audiometry with headphone was more frequently used in the children without developmental delay than those with delay and was not able to be used for the retarded children except for peep show test with headphone.
3) The combination of ABR and sound field audiometry was best employed for the diagnosis of hearing level of the children with or without developmental retardation, while a single procedure was more frequently adequate for the children without developmental retardation.
