Assessment of the effect on the middle ear of 60 and older age by multifrequency tympanometry

Assessment of the Effect on the Middle Ear of 60 and Older Age by Multifrequency Tympanometry. Multifrequency tympanometry is an advantageous method for evaluating tympanograms obtained through probe tones ranging from 226 Hz to 2000 Hz to evaluate middle ear resistance and permeability. The middle ear provides information about the admittance and its parameters. One of the most important of these parameters is the resonance frequency (RF). The pathologies that occur in the middle ear structures cause the resonance frequency to be lower or higher than in the healthy ears. In our study, it was aimed to investigate resonance frequencies with multifrequency tympanometry to determine the effect of age on the middle ear. For this purpose, the resonance frequencies of 88 participants (176 ears) with hearing loss or sensorineural hearing loss and otoscopic examination normal range of 19-79 years were measured at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Başkent University. Participants were divided into 5 groups according to their age. The first group consisted of 24 people between the ages of 18-59, the second group was 16 persons between 60-64 years, the third group was 16 persons between 65-69 years, the fourth group was between the ages of 70-74 and 16 persons were between the ages of 75-80. When the resonance frequency of the right ear according to the participants' groups was examined, 1050 ± 146,703 Hz for group 1, 1046,88 ± 159,655 Hz for group 2, 1062,5 ± 160,728 Hz for group 3, 1075 ± 136,626 Hz for group 4, 1068,75±152,349 Hz for group 5. No statistically significant difference was found between right ear group resonance frequencies (p = 0,981). When the resonance frequency average of the left ears of the groups was examined, 1039,58 ± 147,427 Hz for group 1, 1043,75 ± 107,819 Hz for group 2, 1075 ± 155,991 Hz for group 3, 1075 ± 158,114 Hz for group 4, 1078,134 ± 192,327 Hz for group 5. No statistically significant difference was found between the resonance frequencies of the left ear groups (p = 889). Findings in this setting suggest that age does not affect the middle ear resonance frequency. Studies need to continue with parameters on middle ear resonance frequency. Key Words: Resonance Frequency, Multifrequency Tympanometry, Age