BACKGROND: there is a need to determine parameters for the analyses of the distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) of infants so that it can be used as a clinical criterion in auditory assessment. AIM: to describe the DPOAE records of infants from birth to two months, considering the response level, noise level and the signal to noise ratio in all frequencies; the analysis of response level according to the variables of gender, timpanometry pressure peak, state of infant during the test and distribution of the response percentile level. METHOD: 138 infants were evaluated, all of which presented no risk indicators for hearing loss and passed the hearing screening test. The parameters used were: L1 = 65dB SPL and L2 = 50dB SPL in the equipment ILO292 - Otodynamics. RESULTS: 70 male and 68 female were evaluated, with ages between 6 to 65 days. The medians for DPOAE level for each frequency (f2) varied between 6.0dB SPL and 16.3dB SPL.The medians for the noise level for each frequency (f2) varied between -12.5dB SPL and -2.1dB SPL. The medians for the signal to noise ratio for each frequency (f2) varied between 10.5dB SPL and 25.5dB SPL. CONCLUSIONS: there was no statistically significant difference between genders and between ears for the response level. The timpanometry pression peak determined by three groups (between -50 and +50daPa; < -50daPa and > +50daPa) indicated no influence on records of the response level. For clinical interpretation, percentile 5 can suggest hearing loss and percentile 95 can suggest normal hearing. Studies with infants who present hearing loss are considered important in order to complement the clinical criterion in case of presence of DPOAE and hearing loss.
Hearing Tests; Infant; Early Diagnosis
