Effects of ageing on otoacoustic emission.

To study the effects of ageing on otoacoustic emission (OAE) in individuals with normal pure tone audiogram (PTA). Tertiary/Medical College Hospital. Descriptive/Prospective study. We screened healthy individuals: (1) 50 persons in the age group of 20-25 years. (2) Fifty persons in the age group of 45-50 years. (3) Fifty persons in the age group of 55-60 years. (1) The individuals in the age group of 20-25 years showed absent/decreased distortion product OAE (DPOAE) in two cases (2/50) with normal PTA. (2) The individuals in the age group of 45-50 years showed absent/decreased DPOAE in eleven cases (11/50) with normal PTA. (3) The individuals in the age group of 55-60 years showed absent/decreased DPOAE in 47 cases (47/50) with normal PTA. Just like any other organ in the body which exhibits the process of ageing, the cochlea too undergoes similar changes to the ageing process. The DPOAE is the first sign to disappear in presbyacusis. The many factors which hasten the onset of presbyacusis-like nutrition, lifestyle, environment and occupational hazards, infection and illness, drug intake, hereditary etc.; can be modified for prolonging a healthy natural hearing.