ABSTRACT
Previous studies have found that Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) has large variability in predicting hearing thresholds. However, not many studies have reported on its repeatability. This study aimed to determine the repeatability of ASSR in evaluating hearing thresholds in elderly with sensorineural hearing impairment. A total of 15 subjects aged 55 to 75 years old were involved in this study. Hearing thresholds were determined using pure tone audiometry (PTA) and ASSR at frequencies 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz. ASSR were repeated at frequencies 0.5 and 1 kHz. Overall, hearing thresholds obtained with ASSR were higher than PTA. One-way ANOVA showed the difference between thresholds of PTA and ASSR were not significant at all frequencies. There is significant correlation between the PTA and ASSR thresholds at 0.5 kHz (r = 0.77, p 0.05) and 1 kHz (t = 0.436, p > 0.05). Pearson corelation showed moderate corelation between the two ASSR measurements at 0.5 kHz (r = 0.68, p < 0.001) and 1 kHz (r = 0.60, p < 0.001). The outcome of this study suggests that ASSR hearing threshold is not significantly different if test is repeated and ASSR can be recommended as an alternative to PTA in determining hearing threshold in elderly with sensorineural hearing impairment.