This study aimed to compare the high frequency (1 kHz) tympanometry (HFT) and acoustic reflex (AR) measures obtained from infants at birth and at 6-7 weeks of age. HFT results and AR thresholds using a 2-kHz tone and broadband noise activators were obtained from 42 healthy full-term neonates (15 boys and 27 girls) at both test sessions, separated by six weeks. The results showed that the mean values of HFT test parameters and AR thresholds obtained at 6-7 weeks were generally greater than those obtained at birth. In particular, the differences in mean values of uncompensated admittance at 200 daPa, uncompensated peak admittance, uncompensated peak susceptance, peak-compensated static admittance, and AR thresholds with a 2 kHz tone and broadband noise were found to be statistically significant. The findings from this study suggest the need to have separate sets of normative HFT and AR data for infants at birth and 6-7 weeks.

This study demonstrated that ASRs could be consistently elicited from healthy neonates who showed a single-peaked configuration in the high-frequency tympanometry test and passed the automated auditory brain stem response and TEOAE tests. The findings showed that the ASRTs did not vary significantly across the test-retest conditions, and the high intracorrelation coefficients illustrate the reliability of the ASR test. Given the high test-retest reliability, the ASR test holds promise as a useful diagnostic/screening instrument in ascertaining the hearing status in neonates.

Abbreviations: EAwere assessed. Energy absorbance (EA) data were collected at 30 frequencies using a prototype commercial instrument developed by Interacoustics. Results: Results showed that young adults had significantly lower EA from 400 Hz to 560 Hz than the middle-aged group. However, the middle-age group showed significantly lower EA between 2240 Hz and 5040 Hz than the young adult group. Additionally, the elderly had significantly lower EA than the young adult group between 2520 to 5040 Hz. No significance difference in EA was found at any frequency between middle-aged and older adults. Across age groups, gender differences were found with males having significantly higher EA values than females at lower frequencies, whereas females had significantly higher EA at higher frequencies. Conclusions: This study has provided evidence of the influence of gender and age on EA in adults with normal outer and middle ear function. These findings support the importance of establishing age-and gender-specific EA norms for the adult population. Wideband Energy Absorbance in Adults

The present study aimed to compare three measures to estimate middle ear admittance in neonates using 1000 Hz tympanometry. Data were obtained from 36 full-term newborns, aged between 24 and 123 hours, who passed a transient evoked otoacoustic emissions test and assessed using a Madsen Otoflex impedance meter. The results showed that the mean middle ear admittances obtained by compensating for the susceptance and conductance components at a pressure of 200 daPa and -400 daPa (Y(CC200) = 1.00 mmho and Y(CC-400) = 1.24 mmho, respectively) were significantly greater than that using the traditional baseline compensation method (Y(BC) = 0.65 mmho). Although Y(CC-400) has attained the highest mean value, it has the lowest test-retest reliability. Hence, the component compensation approach compensated at 200 daPa holds promise as an alternative method for estimating middle ear admittance in neonates. Further research to evaluate its test performance using clinical decision theory is required to determine its clinical significance.

The substantive theory suggests that mothers of D/HH children can effectively manage parenting stress and increase well-being by capitalizing on relevant stress-reducing resources to achieve maternal coherence.