High Frequency Pure Tone Audiometry (8-16 kHz) in Children: A Normative Study

Abstract

Establishing normative high frequency pure tone audiometry (HFPTA) threshold data would assist in monitoring ototoxicity in the paediatric oncology population. The present study aimed to acquire HFPTA (8-16 kHz) data from normally hearing children in a common clinical setting. Participants were 129 normally hearing children (63 males and 66 females), aged between 4 and 13 years (mean = 8.4 years; SD = 2.2 years). HFPTA thresholds at 8, 9, 10, 11.2, 12.5, 14, and 16 kHz were measured using an Interacoustics AC40 audiometer with Koss R/80 high frequency headphones. The results from the normative HFPTA data showed that the mean threshold and standard deviation values increased with frequency. A significant age effect was found with the youngest age group showing poorer HFPTA thresholds than their older counterparts. This indicates that children aged 4 to 6 years require a separate set of norms from children aged 7 years and older.