Otoacoustic emissions in normal and hearing‐impaired children and normal adults

Although distortion‐product otoacoustic emissions (DPOEs) have been studied in adults recently, there is little information regarding them in young children. DPOEs and click‐evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOEs) were measured from a same group of normal and hearing‐impaired children (age 4 through 10 years) and normal adults (age 22 through 29 years). Measurements of DPOEs in 13 children's ears with normal hearing showed higher levels of emissions in the 700‐ to 1400‐Hz and 5.7‐kHz regions relative to the data obtained in 10 normal adult ears. The 22 ears of children with sensorineural hearing loss demonstrated agreement between pure‐tone audiograms and “DPOE audiograms.” Measurements of CEOEs revealed that the average level of emission in 15 normal‐hearing children's ears was slightly lower than that previously obtained in newborns, but slightly higher than that of adults. In children, the CEOE spectral components in the 4‐ to 6‐kHz region were lower than in newborns, but higher than in adults. These results support the view that the DPOEs and CEOEs comprise a valuable tool in assessment of cochlear function in subjects of all ages.