Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions: clinical interest.

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOEs) were recorded in a group of normally hearing participants (n = 148 ears) and a group of patients demonstrating several common types of sensorineural hearing loss (n = 136 ears) in order to study the clinical interest of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. In the normal population, the incidence of SOEs decreased from 68% in the group of infants less than 18 months old to 0% after the age of 70 years old. On the other hand, the SOE incidence and the spectrum content did not change with sex. In the group of participants with sensorineural hearing loss, the incidence of SOEs decreased linearly with increasing click threshold or the detection-threshold of evoked otoacoustic emission. No statistical difference in SOE incidence was found between participants with or without tinnitus. These results have several important applications concerning the possible clinical application of SOEs.