Noise effective masking level for bone conduction of wide-spectrum short-duration signals in normal hearing adults.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine the noise effective masking level (EML) and inter-aural attenuation (IA) for click and CE-Chirp signals presented though a Radioear B-81 to elicit the auditory brainstem responses in normally hearing, young adults. DESIGN AND STUDY SAMPLE A total of 26 conveniently sampled adults (13 male and 13 female, aged 18-25 years; 52 ears), with pure-tone hearing thresholds not >15 dB nHL at octave frequencies from 250 to 8000 Hz, and subjective thresholds for the bone-conducted click and CE-Chirp not >10 dB nHL. RESULTS: At stimulus intensities of 30 and 40 dB nHL, the contralateral EML was 67.86 ± 0.78 and 77.80 ± 0.81 dB SPL (respectively) for the click and 72.11 ± 0.74 and 83.53 ± 0.78 dB SPL (respectively) for the CE-Chirp. At stimulus intensities of 30 and 40 dB nHL, the IA was 3.46 ± 2.34 and 3.38 ± 2.03 dB (respectively) for both the click and the CE-Chirp. CONCLUSION: EML and IA values are reported for click and CE-Chirp signals presented at 30 and 40 dB nHL though a Radioear B-81 to elicit the ABR in normally hearing, young adults.