Brainstem evoked response (BER) audiometry at various stimulus presentation rates.

The utilization of the latency of the brainstem auditory evoked response to estimate the status of high frequency hearing is rapidly becoming a part of the audiologist's clinical armamentarium. Because it is important to utilize the most efficient rate of stimulus presentation, the present investigation was undertaken to provide some initial latency information for three commonly used stimulus rates. Brainstem auditory evoked responses were recorded from 22 adults for three click rates (13.3/sec, 33.3/sec, and 67/sec) at seven intensity levels (10 to 60 dB sensation level). It was shown that rate of click presentation markedly affects the intensity-latency functions for wave V. In clinical use, norms must be established for each stimulus rate used to maximize the accuracy of the test results.