[The influence of gender on otoacoustic emissions in normally hearing subjects].

INTRODUCTION The objective of this study was to measure gender-related changes of otoacoustic emissions level in subjects with normal hearing in tonal audiometry. MATERIAL AND METHODS Click evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were recorded in 146 (n = 292 ears) subjects. Otoacoustic emissions were recorded in response to nonlinear clicks and two different primary tones (L1 = 65, L2 = 55 dB SPL; f2/f1 = 1.22) from 1 to 5 kHz. Subjects were divided into two groups: female (29.4 +/- 12.2 years) and male (27.5 +/- 10.1 years). All subjects had normal hearing and middle-ear function based upon standard audiometric criteria. RESULTS The principal findings were that CEOAEs and DPOAEs levels were smaller in the male group compared to the female group, especially at the higher frequencies of DPOAEs. CONCLUSION The influence of gender on the level of otoacoustic emissions was found.