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Our results suggest that reduced outer hair cell activity, as detected by reduced DPOAE levels, may manifest as tinnitus even before there is a shift on hearing threshold. We also postulate that further reduction of cochlear outer hair cell activity, as shown by further reduced DPOAE levels, may actually terminate the source of tinnitus.

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Abbreviations: EAwere assessed. Energy absorbance (EA) data were collected at 30 frequencies using a prototype commercial instrument developed by Interacoustics. Results: Results showed that young adults had significantly lower EA from 400 Hz to 560 Hz than the middle-aged group. However, the middle-age group showed significantly lower EA between 2240 Hz and 5040 Hz than the young adult group. Additionally, the elderly had significantly lower EA than the young adult group between 2520 to 5040 Hz. No significance difference in EA was found at any frequency between middle-aged and older adults. Across age groups, gender differences were found with males having significantly higher EA values than females at lower frequencies, whereas females had significantly higher EA at higher frequencies. Conclusions: This study has provided evidence of the influence of gender and age on EA in adults with normal outer and middle ear function. These findings support the importance of establishing age-and gender-specific EA norms for the adult population. Wideband Energy Absorbance in Adults