I was questioned today by a fellow audiologist about the use of
ipsilateral reflex decay. My experience had been with contra decay
only, but I had to admit that when I came through grad school, we were
still "eyeballing" the percent of decay, rather than take actual
percentage measurements as the sophisticated bridges do today.
She has been using ipsi decay only, for speed and convenience. She does
a lot of compensation claims testing, and "decay" is all it lists under
required tests. Is there research which supports this? I have always
used contralateral decay, but cannot find a copy of Archives of
Otolaryng. Habner & Snyder's article "Stapedius reflex amplitude and
decay in normal ears" (1974, 100, 294-297) to check my aging memory.
(or maybe there is newer data?)
Can someone help us two old ladies of audiology? Also in light of the
changes that have developed in instrumentation since our school days,
can someone recommend a text on impedance, including decay and latency,
and other new goodies. We need the publisher info, too, since we don't
have access via a university.
Thanks,
Susan Lloyd
I am "all ears".
