Abstract
Thirteen subjects made consecutive long-term recordings of binaural intensity and pitch matches in their homes using portable equipment to assess hearing fluctuations. Two groups of subjects were used; one with monaural fluctuating low-frequency hearing loss (FLFHL) without vertigo, and one with monaural Ménière's disease (i.e. FLFHL with vertigo). The subjects measured binaural pitch matches using a 0.25- or 1-kHz reference tone presented at 60 dB SPL to one ear, and a loudness-matched test tone of adjustable frequency presented to the other ear during one to several weeks. Their results were compared to those previously obtained from ten normal-hearing subjects. Both groups of subjects showed fluctuations in binaural intensity and pitch matches not seen in the normal-hearing group. We calculated the average day-to-day difference in matched intensity and frequency for each subject's test period as a measure of disease activity. This measure indicated that the group with Ménière's disease has a higher disease activity than the group with FLFHL without vertigo, and that both these groups of subjects had higher disease activity than normal-hearing subjects.
Abbreviations | ||
DF | = | Degrees of freedom |
FLFHL | = | Fluctuating low-frequency hearing loss |
FFT | = | Fast Fourier transform |
IQR | = | Inter-quartile range |
PSE | = | Point of subjective equality |
PTC | = | Psychophysical tuning curves |
VAS | = | Visual analogue scale |
Abbreviations | ||
DF | = | Degrees of freedom |
FLFHL | = | Fluctuating low-frequency hearing loss |
FFT | = | Fast Fourier transform |
IQR | = | Inter-quartile range |
PSE | = | Point of subjective equality |
PTC | = | Psychophysical tuning curves |
VAS | = | Visual analogue scale |
Sumario
Trece sujetos realizaron en sus hogares grabaciones consecutivas a largo plazo tratando de parear intensidad binaural y tono con un equipo portátil para evaluar las fluctuaciones de su audición. Se utilizaron dos grupos de sujetos: uno con hipoacusia monoaural de baja frecuencia (FLFHL) sin vértigo, y uno con enfermedad de Menière (i.e. FLFHL sin vértigo). Los sujetos midieron binauralmente los pareos de tono utilizando un estímulo de referencia de 0.25 o de 1 kHz presentado a 60dB SPL en un oído y una prueba de pareo de tono de frecuencia ajustable presentado al otro oído durante una a varias semanas. Sus resultados fueron comparados con los previamente obtenidos de sujetos con audición normal. Ambos grupos mostraron fluctuaciones en los pareos de intensidad binaural y tono no observados en el grupo de audición normal. Calculamos la diferencia promedio del día a día en el pareo de intensidad y frecuencia para cada periodo de evaluación de cada sujeto como medida de la actividad de la enfermedad. Esta medida indicó que el grupo con enfermedad de Menière tiene una actividad mayor que el grupo con FLFHL sin vértigo y que ambos grupos de sujetos tenía una mayor actividad de la enfermedad que los sujetos normales.