Stelmachowicz P G, Beauchaine K A, Kalberer A, Kelly W J, Jesteadt W
Boys Town National Institute for Communication Disorders in Children, Omaha, Nebraska 68131.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1989 Feb;85(2):879-87. doi: 10.1121/1.397559.
This study compared the reliability of a recently developed high-frequency audiometer (HFA) [Stevens et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 470-484 (1987)] with a less complicated system that uses supraaural earphones (Koss system). The new approach permits calibration on an individual basis, making it possible to express thresholds at high frequencies in dB SPL. Data obtained from 50 normal-hearing subjects, ranging in age from 10-60 years, were used to evaluate the effects on reliability of threshold variance, earpiece/earphone fitting variance, and the variance associated with the HFA calibration process. Without earpiece/earphone replacement, the reliability of thresholds for the two systems is similar. With replacement, the HFA showed poorer reliability than the Koss system above 11 kHz, largely due to errors in estimating the calibration function. HFA reliability is greater for subjects with valid calibration functions over the entire frequency range. When average correction factors are applied to the Koss data in an effort to convert threshold estimates to dB SPL, individual transfer functions are not represented accurately. Thus the benefit of being able to express thresholds at high frequencies in dB SPL must be weighed against the additional source of variability introduced by the HFA calibration process.
本研究比较了一种最近开发的高频听力计（HFA）[史蒂文斯等人，《美国声学学会杂志》81, 470 - 484 (1987)]与一种使用 supraaural 耳机的不太复杂的系统（科仕系统）的可靠性。这种新方法允许进行个体校准，从而能够以 dB SPL 表示高频阈值。从50名年龄在10至60岁之间的听力正常的受试者获取的数据，用于评估阈值方差、耳塞/耳机适配方差以及与 HFA 校准过程相关的方差对可靠性的影响。在不更换耳塞/耳机的情况下，两种系统阈值的可靠性相似。更换后，在11 kHz 以上，HFA 的可靠性低于科仕系统，这主要是由于在校准函数估计方面的误差。对于在整个频率范围内具有有效校准函数的受试者，HFA 的可靠性更高。当将平均校正因子应用于科仕数据以将阈值估计转换为 dB SPL 时，个体传递函数无法得到准确表示。因此，能够以 dB SPL 表示高频阈值的益处必须与 HFA 校准过程引入的额外变异性来源相权衡。
