Normative rates of wideband acoustic immittance energy absorbance in normal young and middle-aged adults
XU Yuqin
ZHAO Ning
ZHU Chengwen
LIU Xueyao
YANG Ye
Abstract：Objective To report rates of energy absorbance(EA)in wideband tympanometry in normal adults and influencing factors.Methods A total of 148 normal hearing individuals(296 ears)undergoing hearing screening at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital affiliated with Nanjing University from 2020 to 2021 were recruited(mean age=34.34±10.77 years).Tympanometry at 226 Hz showed type A tympanograms in all subjects.Wideband tympanometry covering 122 frequencies from 226 to 8000 Hz were performed to acquire peak pressure frequency-absorbance curves and average tympanograms for comparisons between age,gender and external auditory canal volume.Results(1)The peak pressure frequency-absorbance curve and average tympanogram pattern were similar across the subjects,with the peak pressure frequency-absorbance curve rose from 226 Hz to the first peak at 2519.84 Hz with an EA of 0.811,stable from 2529.84 to 2593.68 Hz and then declining from 2593.68 to 6727.17 Hz ending with an EA of 0.314,followed by an upward trend from there to 8000 Hz.The average peak was similar to the typical tympanogram at 226 Hz,with a peak pressure of-3.7±11.86 daPa and an EA of 0.50±0.12.(2)EA in wideband tympanometry was mainly influenced by gender and external auditory canal volume as two independent factors(P>0.05),with gender showing an impact on peak pressure EA in the 226～1000 Hz,2 kHz,3～5 kHz and 6.5～8 kHz frequency ranges(P<0.05),and external auditory canal volume in the 226～1000 Hz,1.7～2.1 kHz,2.5～6 kHz and 7～8 kHz frequency ranges(P<0.05).On average tympanogram,effects of gender were visible in the+150 to-13 daPa and-81 to-300 daPa pressure ranges(P<0.05),while effects of external auditory canal volume were seen at every sampling point(P<0.001).Conclusions Among young and middle-aged adults with normal middle ears,gender and external auditory canal volume are the main factors influencing acoustic mechanical characteristics in wideband tympanometry independent of each other.The influence of these two factors should be considered when establishing normative values to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of middle ear disease diagnosis.
Keywords：adultsnormal hearingwideband tympanometry testingsound energy absorption rate
Publication Date：2026-02-20
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-13(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 107-113 )