Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to obtain norm values for a young adult Turkish group and to investigate the differences between female and male subjects in terms of wideband tympanometry.

MATERIALS and METHODS: One hundred ten young adult volunteers (mean±SD: 21.1±1.9 years) participated in this study. The measurements of wideband tympanometry were performed at octave frequencies between 226 Hz and 8000 Hz using Titan version 3.1. The stimulus level was set at 100 dB peSPL.

RESULTS: A cross-sectional study design was used. In total, 218 ears were tested. A significant relationship was found between gender and absorbance values for the frequency band from 3100 Hz to 6900 Hz. The difference between the middle ear resonance frequency and ear canal volume (ECV) of the male and female subjects was also found to be significant. The difference in ECV may result from the difference in body size between the male and female subjects because there was a significant relationship among ECV and the height and weight.

CONCLUSION: According to these results, it can be concluded that using separate norms for males and females may increase test specificity and sensitivity for the diagnosis of disorders, such as ossicular discontinuity and tympanic membrane perforations, affecting the high-frequency region.