Clinical Application of Random Gap Detection Test

YU Lan; JI Fei; SHI Wei; WANG Hongyang; YIN Zifang; WANG Dayong; WANG Qiuju

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1672-2922.2014.02.07

Abstract：Objective To establish a method of Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT) and to compare the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) threshold and perceived auditory threshold of interval among normal hearing young people, patients with sensorineural hearing loss and patients with auditory neuropathy (AN) patients. Methods The interval between testing sound signals was ma-nipulated to test auditory temporal integration capability against a background noise. An adaptive approach was used, i.e., diffi-culties increased upon two consecutive correct answers and decreased (increasing interval) upon a wrong answer. The GIN test was applied to 60 normal hearing ears, 25 ears with sensorineural hearing loss and 20 ears with auditory neuropathy. One-way ANOVA was used for comparison among the normal hearing, sensorineural hearing loss and auditory neuropathy groups. Re-sults The GIN threshold of the auditory neuropathy group (29.59 ± 19.27 ms) was longer than the normal hearing (3.34 ± 1.24 ms) and sensorineural hearing loss (5.34±2.78 ms) groups. Within the normal hearing group, the GIN thresholds of the females (2.95 ± 0.86 ms) and males (3.10 ± 1.15 ms) showed no significant gender difference (P=0.683>0.05, F=0.138). The binaural GIN threshold was 3.02 ± 1.00 ms. The left ear GIN threshold (3.63 ± 1.39 ms) was not significantly different from that of the right ear (3.38±1.25 ms) (P=0.162>0.05, F=1.857). Conclusions RGDT test is a useful clinical tool in assessment of auditory temporal resolution. It is highly feasible and has profound values in clinical application, especially for patients with AN, facili-tating differential diagnosis. It can also be used as a complementary tool to verify the result of speech audiometry.