Tympanometric and acoustic stapedius reflex measures in older adults: The blue mountains hearing study

Tympanometric peak pressure, peak compensated static acoustic admittance (peak Y_tm) and acoustic stapedius reflex (ASR) thresholds were obtained for a representative sample of 1565 older Australians who were participants in the Blue Mountains Hearing Study (BMHS). No significant age or gender effects were found for tympanometric peak pressure. Peak Y_tm measures, however, decreased with age in the left ear only across all age groups and were consistently higher for men than for women. After allowing for hearing loss, the effect of age on ASR thresholds was inconsistent. An increase in ASR thresholds with age was observed at selected frequencies but only when measured contralaterally, and these changes were not clinically significant. Overall, our findings suggest that current normative data for peak Y_tm is too restricted for application in the older population, but there is insufficient evidence to warrant alternative normative data for the ASR threshold range in this same population.