Influence of BMI and head circumference on variables of auditory evoked potential in young healthy male human participants

Context Age, hearing loss, sex, BMI, and head size are very important parameters that influence auditory evoked potential (AEP) variables. Although the correlation of BMI and head size with AEP parameters has been studied recently, there is no common consensus on it. A few studies show a positive correlation, whereas others report a weaker correlation. Further, normative values of the V/I ratio also show a wide range of normative values from different studies. Aims and objectives This study aimed to evaluate the association of AEP variables with BMI and head size in healthy young male participants and to collect normative data for the V/I amplitude ratio. Materials and methods This is a cross-sectional study in which 30 young healthy male participants with age range 19-25 years and BMI range 15-26 kg/m 2 underwent AEP testing. All were screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria established for the study. Informed consent was obtained and the data obtained were stored in an Excel sheet. A simple correlation regression coefficient was obtained between physical parameters and different AEP variables. Results We observed a strong positive correlation between head size and V wave latency ( r = 0.5) and a weaker positive correlation between head size and AEP interpeak latencies (IPLs) I-V and III-V ( r = 0.3). No correlation was observed between BMI and AEP variables. The V/I amplitude ratio was 0.98 ± 0.68 and 0.93 ± 0.7 for the left and the right ear, respectively. Conclusion We concluded that BMI had no influence, and head size showed an association with AEP outcome, especially V wave latency and the AEP-IPL difference. The V/I ratio needs to be examined further in studies with larger sample sizes as values were different from those of previous studies.