Auditory cortical disorders in the elderly can be assessed by the P300. The lack of contemporary reference values of P300 latency in healthy elderly motivated this study. AIM: To estimate the effect of age on P300 latency in a group of elderly. METHODS: We studied 62 elderly patients with pure tone thresholds up to 40 dB HL at the frequencies of 1000 and 2000 Hz, divided into groups according to age (60-64, 65-69 and 70-74 years). Were assessed by the P300 latency in response to the rare stimulus of 2000 Hz and 1000 Hz frequencies, both in the intensity of 80 dB HL. STUDY DESIGN: clinical, cross-sectional observational individual compared prospective. RESULTS: The latency in Group 60 was 337.26 ms (SD 11.31) in Group 65 was 351.86 ms (SD 29.05) and in Group 70 it was 370.19 ms (SD 23.40). The linear regression of the values of P300 latency showed an increase of 2.85 ms per year of age. The statistical analysis showed that the results were significant. CONCLUSION: The P300 latency increases with age at a rate of 2.85 ms per year between the ages of 60 and 74 years.
elderly; hearing loss; auditory evoked potentials; p300 event related potentials
