Role of auditory steady-state response (ASSR) in assessing hearing-impaired subjects
Main Article Content
Abstract
Auditory steady-state response (ASSR) is an objective electrophysiological method used to determine frequency-specific hearing thresholds, particularly useful when pure-tone audiometry (PTA) cannot be performed or when auditory brainstem response (ABR) is limited in subjects with severe hearing loss. This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 56 subjects (97 hearing-impaired ears) at the Audiology Department of Ho Chi Minh City Ear-Nose-Throat Hospital from November 2020 to December 2021. All ears underwent simultaneous PTA, ABR, and ASSR assessments. The detection rate of ASSR thresholds was 100%, higher than ABR (93.8%); all six ears without detectable ABR responses still showed ASSR thresholds at all four frequencies. ASSR demonstrated strong correlations with PTA at 500 Hz (r = 0.89 - 0.94) and 1000 Hz (r = 0.70 - 0.77), whereas weaker correlations were observed at 2000 Hz and 4000 Hz. The mean ASSR-PTA difference ranged from +0.6 to −14.8 dB. Agreement between the two methods according to ASHA classification was good (linear weighted kappa = 0.62). As shown, ASSR is a valuable adjunctive tool for objective hearing threshold assessment.
Article Details
Keywords
Auditory steady-state response, ASSR, pure tone audiometry, auditory brainstem response, hearing loss, objective threshold estimation
References
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