• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.163-171
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• 2004

The primary goal of the present study was to explore more detailed evidence for the influence of aging and gender effects on the capability of Korean healthy, ears to generate DPOAEs. DPOAEs were examined in series of human subjects, with clinically nonnal hearing, ranging in age from 10 to 65 years. All 60 Koreans were divided into 6 age groups. Each age group included 10 participants, 5 females and 5 males. The gender effects on the difference between the absolute amplitude and noise floor value in DPOAEs did not exist. The difference increased as the frequency increased. The aging effects on the difference between the absolute amplitude and noise floor value in DPOAEs did exist. The difference increased as the frequency increased but orderly age effects could not be found. The principle finding was that, when compared between emissions in young and old ears, DPOAEs accurately tracked the systematic deterioration of high-frequency hearing in aging individuals. Such results support the need to reestablish the criterion for interpretation of DPOAEs in the elderly.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2000

Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAEs) can be measured in the external ear canal two fold: amplitude and latency, but most DPOAE studies deal with amplitude aspects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the latency of the 2f1-f2 DPOAEs in ears with hearing losses and to see if it could be a clinically useful method to distinguish normal from abnormal ears. For this purpose, DPOAE latency were measured as a function of frequency from 1 to 8 kHz in 30 ears with conductive and sensorineural hearing losses (SNHLs). DPOAEs were recorded with Otodynamic Analyzer ILO92. Results showed that the latency decreased as the frequency increased up to 8 kHz. The mean values of DPOAE latency for ears of SNHLs were shorter at all frequencies when they were compared to the mean values of normal ears. The latency in ears of conductive hearing losses was shorter than normal ears at the selective frequencies, as well. The results support the hypothesis that latency values are shorter in pathological ears.