Effect of short-duration noise exposure on behavioral threshold and transient evoked otoacoustic emission

Background: It is well known that the short- or long-duration exposure to loud noise can either cause temporary or permanent threshold shift. Pure tone audiometry is most widely used to predict the individual who is susceptible to such noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) is a noninvasive, objective technique and required less time to administer to find out such effect. However, one must know the sensitivity of TEOAEs to predict susceptibility of NIHL. Objectives: Thus, the present study was taken up to find out the susceptibility of TEOAE to identify the individual who is more susceptible by comparing behavioral temporary threshold shift (TTS). Materials and Methods: There were 28 ears in the age range of 18 to 30 years participated in the study. All participants were evaluated for pure tone thresholds and TEOAEs amplitude before and after exposure to the short-duration noise. Results: Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences observed for both behavioral thresholds shift and TEOAEs amplitude reduction after exposure to short-duration noise at 0.05 levels at different frequencies. Conclusion: Further, it was observed that though there was agreement between the two, TEOAE amplitude shift was not as much as pure tone TTS. Reason and the importance of the TEOAE to use as a tool to find out susceptibility are being discussed in the article.