Time-frequency analysis of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions in noise-induced hearing loss

Click-evoked otacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) were recorded from 15 ears with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). To identify hearing loss in a frequency-specific manner, CEOAEs were decomposed into narrow band components by means of the wavelet transform. Test-retest reproducibilty of CEOAE components was compared with the audiometric threshold at corresponding frequencies. Agreement between conventional pure-tone audiometry and CEOAEs was found. A general trend of low reproducibility for increasing audiometric thresholds was observed. The presence of a CEOAE component at a given frequency was always associated with audiometric thresholds /spl les/20-25 dB HL.