Hearing screening for children with otitis media with effusion using external ear resonance

Abstract

This study examined the clinical utility of measuring the external ear resonance (EER) amplitude peak as a screening test for detecting hearing loss in children with otitis media with effusion (OME). The peak EER amplitude and frequeney of 180 ears in 100 children at risk of hearing loss related to OME was recorded. A relationship was found to exist between peak EER amplitude and hearing level, in particular at low frequencies, or the pure tone average (500, 1000 and 2000 Hz). However, the correlation was not strong and a wide scatter of results was apparent. Using a criterion of >15 dB HL three-frequeney average for failure, the ears were divided into normal hearing and hearing loss groups. The two groups differed significantly with regard to peak EER amplitude but the sensitivity and specificity levels of the EER test suggest it is of limited benefit as an indication of OME-related hearing loss in screening situations. An alternate hearing loss criterion, ≤25 dB HL, did not give improved predictive levels.