TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating hearing threshold differences between ears as a screen for acoustic neuroma
AU - Schlauch, R. S.
AU - Levine, S.
AU - Li, Y.
AU - Haines, S.
PY - 1995/1/1
Y1 - 1995/1/1
N2 - Differences in pure tone thresholds between ears were evaluated at two different patient care facilities to determine this measure's value as a screen for acoustic neuroma. We evaluated the audiograms of tumor and nontumor groups to estimate the true positive rates and false positive rates for several decision rules. Threshold differences were found to be a more effective diagnostic tool for females than for males. However, even for the most effective rules, the efficiency of this test alone is mediocre, which indicates that hearing threshold differences between ears must be combined with other criteria for a cost-effective approach to acoustic neuroma identification. Furthermore, tumor size was not predicted by the amount of threshold asymmetry between ears, which suggests that some large, potentially life-threatening tumors may be missed if pure tone threshold differences are the sole criterion for referral for additional tests.
AB - Differences in pure tone thresholds between ears were evaluated at two different patient care facilities to determine this measure's value as a screen for acoustic neuroma. We evaluated the audiograms of tumor and nontumor groups to estimate the true positive rates and false positive rates for several decision rules. Threshold differences were found to be a more effective diagnostic tool for females than for males. However, even for the most effective rules, the efficiency of this test alone is mediocre, which indicates that hearing threshold differences between ears must be combined with other criteria for a cost-effective approach to acoustic neuroma identification. Furthermore, tumor size was not predicted by the amount of threshold asymmetry between ears, which suggests that some large, potentially life-threatening tumors may be missed if pure tone threshold differences are the sole criterion for referral for additional tests.
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U2 - 10.1044/jshr.3805.1168
DO - 10.1044/jshr.3805.1168
M3 - Article
C2 - 8558885
AN - SCOPUS:0028846664
SN - 0022-4685
VL - 38
SP - 1168
EP - 1175
JO - Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
JF - Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
IS - 5
ER -