Aging effects in multifrequency tympanometry

Objective: The objective of this investigation was to determine the effect of the aging process on various measures derived from multifrequency tympanograms. Design: Tympanograms were recorded at 226 Hz and at one-sixth octave intervals from 250 through 2000 Hz from 136 adult male subjects; 20 in each decade of life from ape 20 through age 79 and 16 older than 79 yr of age. Analyses were performed on two measures of resonant frequency of the middle ear, two measures of static admittance at 226 Hz, and tympanometric width at 226 Hz. Results: No systematic effect of age on any of these measures was evident in this population except for a small, but significant, correlation between tympanometric width and age. Analyses of variance indicated no significant difference among mean values on any measure when subjects were grouped by decade of life. Values of these tympanometric variables are reported to add to the growing base of data from normal low-frequency and multifrequency tympanograms. Conclusions: The main finding of this investigation indicates that normative values of middle ear resonance, admittance, and tympanometric width obtained from groups of adults of various ages can be applied to elderly men.