The Comparison between Pure Tone and Warble Tone Thresholds in Normal Hearing Individuals
Keywords:
Pure tone, Warble tone, Hearing thresholdAbstract
Pure Tone is a standard signal used in clinical audiometry to determine degree and type of hearing loss. Current commercial audiometers offer alternative signals such as Warble Tone and Pulsed Tone. As the signal provide additional cues, it is easier for patients to detect the signal especially for patients who suffer from tinnitus. Although there are several existing studies compared hearing thresholds using Pure Tone to ones using Warble Tone, the results were inconsistent. This study aims to compare hearing thresholds using the two signals, and determine whether they can be used interchangeably in Thai people. Air conduction hearing thresholds at 250 to 8000 Hz were obtained from 31 normal hearing ears, aged between 18 to 28 years old. Data were analyzed using the Bland-Altman plot. The results show the difference between hearing thresholds of the two signals at 250, 500, 2000, 4000, 8000 Hz were within limits of agreement at 95%CI. Post hoc analysis using Wilcoxon signed rank test, only thresholds at 3000 Hz were different between stimuli (1.29 dB) which was statistically significant, but not clinically significant difference with a 5 dB - step procedure and wabled at a rate of 5 Hz with a ±5% allowable deviation around the selected center frequency. In conclusion, the Warble Tone signal can be used interchangeably with Pure Tone signal in clinical practice.
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