Using auditory steady-state responses for measuring hearing protector occlusion effect.

INTRODUCTION

The currently available methods for measuring the occlusion effect (OE) of hearing protection devices (HPDs) have limitations. Objective microphonic measurements do not assess bone-conducted sounds directly transmitted to the cochlea. Psychophysical measurements at threshold are biased due to the low-frequency masking effects from test participants' physiological noise and the variability of measurements based on subjective responses. An auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) procedure is used as a technique that might overcome these limitations.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Pure-tone stimuli (250 and 500 Hz), with amplitude modulated at 40 Hz, were presented to twelve adults with normal hearing through a bone vibrator at three levels in 10-dB steps. The following two conditions were assessed: the unoccluded ear canal and occluded ear canal. ASSR amplitude data as a function of the stimulation level were linearized using least-square regressions. The ASSR-based "physiological" OE was then calculated as the average difference between the two measurements.

RESULTS

A significant statistical difference was found between the average threshold-based psychophysical OE and the average ASSR-based OE.

CONCLUSION

This study successfully ascertained that it is possible to objectively measure the OE of HPD using ASSRs collected on the same participant both with and without protectors.