Análisis comparativo de umbrales auditivos en niños y adultos

Hearing thresholds (minimum audible level) are important because these can be used to determine if there is mild to severe hearing loss. In children it is very common to perform hearing tests that show whether or not there is hearing loss. Early detection of rise in the hearing (whether mild or severe) can help to provide timely medical assistance for the child, in order to help developing communication with society. In the present work auditory thresholds were measured at frequencies: 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, 12500 and 16000 Hz. These measurements were performed in twenty four people, twelve of which were children of 7-14 years and twelve young adults of 18-30 years. To choose the optimal procedure for measuring hearing thresholds, a review of indexed papers and books related with audiology, psychoacoustics and psychophysics was done. To run the experiments the MATLAB’s Psychoacoustics toolbox was used. A comparative analysis between hearing thresholds of children and adults was performed. Statistical tools were used (SPSS software) in order to establish if the differences between the thresholds of the two groups were significant. Results showed a significant difference in 500 and 1000 Hz between children and adults. For the other frequencies, results showed minimal difference between the two groups.