The relationship between electrical acoustic reflex thresholds and behavioral comfort levels in children and adult cochlear implant patients

The accuracy with which behavioral comfort levels could be predicted by the electrically elicited acoustic reflex threshold (EART) was examined in 35 Nucleus Cochlear Implant patients (16 adults and 19 children). EARTs were obtained by stimulating bipolar pairs of electrodes through the Nucleus Diag...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEar and hearing Vol. 15; no. 2; p. 184
Main Authors Spivak, L G, Chute, P M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.04.1994
Subjects
Acoustic Stimulation
Adult
Aged
Auditory Threshold
Child
Child, Preschool
Cochlear Implants
Deafness - etiology
Deafness - rehabilitation
Ear, Middle
Electric Stimulation
Humans
Loudness Perception
Middle Aged
Reflex, Acoustic
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Summary:The accuracy with which behavioral comfort levels could be predicted by the electrically elicited acoustic reflex threshold (EART) was examined in 35 Nucleus Cochlear Implant patients (16 adults and 19 children). EARTs were obtained by stimulating bipolar pairs of electrodes through the Nucleus Diagnostic Programming System and monitoring the change in middle ear admittance in the ear contralateral to the implanted ear. EARTs were successfully elicited in 24 patients. EARTs differed from behavioral comfort levels by a mean of 19.4 stimulus level units for adults and 9.6 stimulus level units for children. While EARTs were found to be acceptably close to behavioral comfort levels in four adults and eight children, EARTs significantly overestimated or underestimated comfort levels in the rest. The results of this study suggested that while the EART does not accurately predict comfort levels in all cases, it may provide valuable information regarding levels which should not be exceeded when programming the cochlear implant. Cautious use of information available from the EART may prove useful for programming the cochlear implant in children or adults who are unable to make reliable psychophysical judgments.
ISSN:0196-0202
DOI:10.1097/00003446-199404000-00008