Age and gender effects on wideband absorbance in adults with normal outer and middle ear function

Objectives: This study examined the effects of age and gender on wideband energy absorbance in adults with normal middle ear function. Design: Forty young adults (14M/26F, aged 20-38 yr), 31 middle-aged (16M/15F, aged 42-64 yr), and 30 older adults (20M/10F, aged 65-82 yr) were assessed. Energy absorbance (EA) data were collected at 30 frequencies using a prototype commercial instrument developed by Interacoustics. Results: Results showed that young adults had significantly lower EA from 400 Hz to 560 Hz than the middle-aged group. However, the middle-age group showed significantly lower EA between 2240 Hz and 5040 Hz than the young adult group. Additionally, the elderly had significantly lower EA than the young adult group between 2520 to 5040 Hz. No significance difference in EA was found at any frequency between middle-aged and older adults. Across age groups, gender differences were found with males having significantly higher EA values than females at lower frequencies, whereas females had significantly higher EA at higher frequencies. Conclusions: This study has provided evidence of the influence of gender and age on EA in adults with normal outer and middle ear function. These findings support the importance of establishing age- and gender-specific EA norms for the adult population.