Threshold Estimation in Children Using Auditory Steady-State Responses to Multiple Simultaneous Stimuli

Objective: It was the aim of this study to explore the use of auditory steady-state response (ASSR) to multiple simultaneous stimuli for threshold estimation in young children. Method: The subjects consisted of 40 children, aged from 6 months to 5 years, with variant degrees of sensorineural hearing loss. Simultaneous tonepips (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz) with an amplitude modulated at different rates from 77 to 103 Hz were presented to both ears by insert phones. All children were tested with ASSR and age-appropriate behavioral tests. Results: We found that (1) ASSR thresholds were usually higher than behavioral thresholds with a difference of 8–15 dB, (2) the behavioral thresholds were significantly correlated with ASSR thresholds (p = 0.000), and (3) there was a great difference between ASSR thresholds and behavioral thresholds found in a child with auditory neuropathy. Conclusion: Being objective, frequency specific and well correlated with behavioral thresholds, ASSR to multiple simultaneous stimuli was proven to be a good tool to predict behavioral hearing thresholds.