Aithal, Sreedevi, Aithal, Venkatesh, and Kei, Joseph (2024) Wideband Absorbance Predicts the Severity of Conductive Hearing Loss in Children With Otitis Media With Effusion. Ear & Hearing, 45 (3). pp. 636-647.

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of the present study were to investigate the relationship between wideband absorbance (WBA) and air–bone gap (ABG) in children with a conductive hearing loss (CHL) due to otitis media with effusion (OME) and determine the accuracy of WBA to predict the magnitude of ABGs.

Design: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study involving a control group of 170 healthy ears from 130 children (mean age 7.7 years) and a CHL cohort of 181 ears from 176 children (mean age 5.9 years) with OME. The CHL cohort was divided into three groups: CHL1, CHL2, and CHL3 defined by mean ABG (averaged across 0.5 to 4 kHz) of 16 to 25 dB, 26 to 35 dB, and 36 to 45 dB, respectively. WBA was measured at frequencies from 0.25 to 8 kHz at ambient pressure.

Results: WBA was significantly reduced between 0.25 and 5 kHz for all CHL groups. The difference in WBA at 1 to 4 kHz between the control and CHL groups increased with increasing ABG. The predictive accuracy, as indicated by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of WBA, increased with increasing ABG. The AUROC for WBA at 1.5 kHz was 0.86 for the CHL1, 0.91 for the CHL2, and 0.93 for the CHL3 group. The AUROCs for WBA averaged across 0.5 to 4 kHz were 0.88, 0.93, and 0.94 for the CHL1, CHL2, and CHL3 groups, respectively. Linear regression analyses showed significant negative correlations between WBA0.5–4 k and ABG0.5–4 k. The regression model (ABG0.5–4 k = 31.83 – 24.08 × WBA0.5–4 k) showed that WBA0.5–4 k predicted ABG0.5–4 k with high accuracy. Comparison of predicted and actual WBA on a different group of subjects revealed that at an individual level, the model predicted ABG between 16 and 35 with greater precision.

Conclusions: There were significant strong correlations between WBA and ABG such that WBA decreased with increasing ABG. WBA demonstrated good discrimination accuracy with AUROC exceeding 0.88 for the 0.5 to 4 kHz and 1 to 4 kHz frequency bands. The WBA test holds promise for determining the severity of CHL in children with OME.

Item ID:	85862
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1538-4667
Copyright Information:	© 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2025 22:45
FoR Codes:	32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3213 Paediatrics > 321302 Infant and child health @ 100%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200101 Diagnosis of human diseases and conditions @ 50% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200506 Neonatal and child health @ 50%
Downloads:	Total: 1 Last 12 Months: 1
	More Statistics