A computerized scoring procedure for auditory brainstem response audiometry.

A weakness of auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiometry is the highly subjective manner in which the tracings are scored. This article describes a computerized scoring technique which was devised to reduce the subjective decision making in ABR test analysis. This correlation technique assumes only that the ABR, whatever its latency or waveform, will be highly consistent when the same stimulus conditions are repeated. This consistency should result in high correlations when two suprathreshold tracings are compared. In contrast, low correlations should occur when one of the tracings is a control containing no ABR. The extent of differences between correlations is used as the response criterion.