Effect of Response Method in Participants with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Background:Aim of the study was to compare the speed of response, false-alarm rate, and subject preference of different response methods i.e. raising a hand, using response switch, and oral response mode for measuring pure-tone thresholds. Methods:Forty five participants (female-21 and 24 male) were included in the study with sensorineural hearing loss of various degree. Response method order was randomly assigned to 3 different sessions. Air-conduction thresholds were mea¬sured thrice for each participant in octave intervals between 250 Hz and 8000 Hz. The 2nd and 3rd session were performed for different response method on a different day but within 2 weeks of the 1st session. Results:Difference in the time was noted when compared with the extent of time required to complete the test for each response method. On an average, using the push¬button method took 3.02 to 3.42 minutes less than using hand-raise or verbal response methods. There was also a significant participant preference for using the response button. No significant difference between response method for thresh¬old level and number of false positives (P = 0.15) was found. Conclusion:This study supports the use of the response button when measuring auditory thresholds for sensorineural hearing loss.