Speech recognition scores and ABR in cochlear impairment.

The relationship between the speech recognition scores (SRS) in noise and the auditory brain-stem evoked response (ABR) was examined in 7 males (age range: 40 to 60 yrs) with fairly similar audiograms but different SRS. The Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient revealed a significant relationship between SRS and latencies of waves I and II of the ABR. The results are discussed in terms of neural degeneration and representation of speech stimuli in the auditory nerve.