Scholarlink

Purpose <p>This study examined whether different methods for calculating pure tone average (PTA) yield clinically relevant differences in correlations with speech audiometry and hearing-related quality of life (QoL) in conductive and mixed hearing loss. Additionally, we investigated whether these associations vary among distinct middle ear pathologies: otosclerosis, acute otitis media (AOM) and chronic otitis media (COM).</p> Methods <p>In an ambispective cohort study at a tertiary referral center,&#xa0;220 ears were analyzed. 194 ears were collected retrospectively. 26 patients were recruited prospectively. Inclusion criteria were adult age, confirmed diagnosis, near-normal bone conduction and conductive hearing loss without prior middle ear surgery.&#xa0;Pure-tone and Freiburg speech audiometry were analyzed along with the SSQ12 questionnaire in prospective patients. Multiple air conduction (AC) and air–bone gap (ABG) - PTA configurations were compared using linear regression and ANCOVA.</p> Results <p>Across all cohorts, PTA values strongly correlated with speech recognition at 65&#xa0;dB SPL and with 50% number recognition thresholds (R<sup>2</sup> up to 0.77). No clinically relevant differences were found between 4-frequency-PTAs using 3&#xa0;kHz vs. 4&#xa0;kHz. However, disease-specific patterns emerged: otosclerosis patients showed consistently poorer word recognition than AOM or COM patients at comparable PTA levels. QoL outcomes correlated significantly with AC-based PTAs but not with ABG-based PTAs or speech results.</p> Conclusions <p>PTA calculation methods yield comparable correlations with speech understanding; inclusion of 3 or 4&#xa0;kHz does not alter results meaningfully. Disease-specific discrepancies underscore the need for nuanced interpretation of PTA–speech relationships and support integrating both PTA and QoL measures in patient assessment. The study was conducted under clinical trial registration number DRKS00037758.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Disease-specificity in correlations between speech audiometry, hearing-related quality of life, and varying calculation methods for pure tone average in middle ear diseases

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月1日

查看全文
  • Ivo Grueninger,
  • Julia van de Loo,
  • Sara Alekuzei,
  • Kevin Karl Hansen,
  • Aviva Henze,
  • Jennifer Spiegel,
  • Daniel Polterauer,
  • Maike Neuling,
  • Hans N. C. Eckel,
  • Marcel Mayer,
  • Jan Christoffer Luers,
  • Jens Peter Klußmann,
  • Martin Canis,
  • Joachim Müller,
  • Martin Walger,
  • Tobias Rader,
  • Kariem Sharaf

摘要

Purpose

This study examined whether different methods for calculating pure tone average (PTA) yield clinically relevant differences in correlations with speech audiometry and hearing-related quality of life (QoL) in conductive and mixed hearing loss. Additionally, we investigated whether these associations vary among distinct middle ear pathologies: otosclerosis, acute otitis media (AOM) and chronic otitis media (COM).

Methods

In an ambispective cohort study at a tertiary referral center, 220 ears were analyzed. 194 ears were collected retrospectively. 26 patients were recruited prospectively. Inclusion criteria were adult age, confirmed diagnosis, near-normal bone conduction and conductive hearing loss without prior middle ear surgery. Pure-tone and Freiburg speech audiometry were analyzed along with the SSQ12 questionnaire in prospective patients. Multiple air conduction (AC) and air–bone gap (ABG) - PTA configurations were compared using linear regression and ANCOVA.

Results

Across all cohorts, PTA values strongly correlated with speech recognition at 65 dB SPL and with 50% number recognition thresholds (R2 up to 0.77). No clinically relevant differences were found between 4-frequency-PTAs using 3 kHz vs. 4 kHz. However, disease-specific patterns emerged: otosclerosis patients showed consistently poorer word recognition than AOM or COM patients at comparable PTA levels. QoL outcomes correlated significantly with AC-based PTAs but not with ABG-based PTAs or speech results.

Conclusions

PTA calculation methods yield comparable correlations with speech understanding; inclusion of 3 or 4 kHz does not alter results meaningfully. Disease-specific discrepancies underscore the need for nuanced interpretation of PTA–speech relationships and support integrating both PTA and QoL measures in patient assessment. The study was conducted under clinical trial registration number DRKS00037758.