Insert earphones: application to avoid collapse of the external auditory canal Fones de inserção: aplicação no colabamento de meato acústico externo

ABSTRACT Purpose: To determine the efficacy of insert earphones in cases of collapsed external auditory canals. Methods: Twenty-one elderly individuals with air-bone gaps greater than 10 dBHL at frequencies of 3 kHz and/or 4 kHz underwent anamnesis, pure tone audiome-try, speech audiometry, and immittance test. Pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry were performed with both supra-aural and insert earphones. Results: Air conduction thresholds were lower with insert earphones at all frequencies except 1 kHz. The magnitude of the air-bone gap was also lower with the insert earphones, and there was a air-bone coupling with this transducer. Conclusion: Insert earphones ER-3A allowed significant improvement in air conduction hearing thresholds in elderly individuals, reducing or even eliminating the air-bone gap in cases of collapsed external auditory canals, especially at higher frequencies. Keywords: Hearing; Audiometry; Auditory threshold; Ear canal; Elderly INTRODUCTION Supra-aural earphones, conventional in clinical audiology, may cause the occlusion of the external auditory canal due to the pressure exerted on the pinna, which hinders the passage of sound from the outer ear to the inner ear and determines false conductive hearing loss at high frequencies. This effect is known as collapse of the external auditory canal. Such a collapse can occur at any age, but approximately one third of patients are elderly (aged 65 years or older)