PURPOSE: to compare the results of the test referred to as voice detection lower thresholds, using a previously-recorded list of trisyllabic words and in live voice in individuals with flat configuration audiogram. METHODS: 60 subjects (120 ears) took part in the study, each with an audiometric exam within normal patterns and tonal audiometry at a flat configuration, without auditory incidents, in the age group going from 20 to 30. The test was given with a live voice and with recorded material, in an acoustically-managed booth, by means of an AC40 audiometer and with the aid of a linked CD player. RESULTS: voice detection lower thresholds were found to be 10 dB better than the tritonal average in 35 ears (57% of the sample) when accomplished by live voice and in 10 ears (17%) when accomplished by recorded material; and were found to be 5 dB worse than the tritonal average in one ear (3%) when accomplished by live voice and in 23 ears (38%) by recorded material. CONCLUSION: a) when using recorded material for the establishment of LDV in flat configuration curves, one should consider intensity levels equal to the tritonal average or 5 dB lower as standards of normality and b) a difference was revealed between the results obtained with recorded material and those from live voices, demonstrating the importance of using recorded tests for determining lower auditory thresholds in logoaudiometry.
Audiometry; Speech; Hearing; Auditory Perception
