Neonate auditory brainstem response repeatability with controlled force gauge bone-conducted stimulus delivery

Abstract

Objective: The feasibility and repeatability of neonate auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) with a controlled hand-held applied force gauge for bone-conducted stimulus delivery was examined. Design: A repeated measures test–retest design was employed. Study sample: Participants were 27 healthy neonates. A 4000 Hz bone-conducted CE-Chirp octave band stimulus evoked the ABRs. Intra- and intertester conditions were employed with a prototype hand-held applied force gauge (Etymōtic Research) attached to the superior aspect of the bone vibrator. The bone vibrator was placed in a superoposterior auricular position and held manually. The force gauge displayed a desired coupling force via an LED light indicator. Results: Three sets of replicated ABRs were recorded from all neonates: initial test and retest with one tester (i.e. intratester 1 and 2) and final test with a second tester (i.e. intertester). No significant differences in intra- or intertester ABR wave V latencies or amplitudes were found (p > 0.05). Coefficients of reliability (Cronbach’s α) were .95 and .43 for wave V latencies and amplitudes, respectively. Conclusions: A hand-held applied force gauge may be a reliable means of delivering controlled bone-conducted stimuli in ABR assessments in neonates and infants.

Key Words:

• Auditory brainstem response
• bone conduction
• reliability
• chirp
• newborn

Acknowledgements

This work was presented in part on 7 April 2017 at the American Academy of Audiology AudiologyNOW! Convention, Indianapolis, IN.

Declaration of interest

Etymōtic Research, Inc. (Elk Grove Village, IL) provided the force gauge used in this research.

Notes

1. We chose the 4000 Hz CE-Chirp octave band stimuli to supplement our ongoing larger project to generate normative neonate ABRs to air-conducted CE-Chirp octave band stimuli (Cobb and Stuart 2016).