Automated pure-tone threshold estimations from extrapolated distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) input/output functions.

A promising approach to the prediction of pure-tone thresholds through the estimation of DPOAE thresholds by input/output functions was recently published by Boege and Janssen [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 111, 1810-1818 (2002)]. On the basis of their results, a device that enables automated measurements of these thresholds was recently developed. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the reliability of this instrument for the objective assessment of hearing loss in 101 ears with either normal hearing or with cochlear hearing loss of up to 50 dB HL. The median difference between pure-tone hearing and DPOAE thresholds was approximately 2 dB. For individual subjects, however, DPOAE thresholds differed from pure-tone thresholds by up to 40 dB. We find, therefore, that the clinical benefits of this method are probably limited.