Predictive Accuracy of Wideband Absorbance at Ambient and Tympanometric Peak Pressure Conditions in Identifying Children with Surgically Confirmed Otitis Media with Effusion

Background Wideband absorbance (WBA) measured at ambient pressure (WBA(A)) does not directly account for middle ear pressure effects. On the other hand, WBA measured at tympanometric peak pressure (TPP) (WBA(TPP)) may compensate for the middle ear pressure effects. To date, there are no studies that have compared WBA(A) and WBA(TPP) in ears with surgically confirmed otitis media with effusion (OME). Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the predictive accuracy of WBA(A) and WBA(TPP) in ears with OME. Research Design Prospective cross-sectional study. Study Sample A total of 60 ears from 38 healthy children (mean age = 6.5 years, SD = 1.84 years) and 60 ears from 38 children (mean age = 5.5 years, SD = 3.3 years) with confirmed OME during myringotomy were included in this study. Data Collection and Analysis Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. The predictive accuracy of WBA(A) and WBA(TPP) was determined using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses. Results Both WBA(A) and WBA(TPP) were reduced in ears with OME compared with that in healthy ears. The area under the ROC (AROC) curve was 0.92 for WBA(A) at 1.5 kHz, whereas that for WBA(TPP) at 1.25 kHz was 0.91. In comparison, the AROC for 226-Hz tympanometry based on the static acoustic admittance (Y-tm) measure was 0.93. Conclusions Both WBA(A) and WBA(TPP) showed high and similar test performance, but neither test performed significantly better than 226-Hz tympanometry for detection of surgically confirmed OME.