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.