Abstract: Objective To investigate the value of slow vertex response(SVR) for forensic appraisement of hearing dysfunction by comparing the thresholds acquired with SVR and pure tone audiometry(PTA).Methods Forty-six subjects with normal hearing were tested with PTA(0.125-8 kHz) and SVR(0.5-4 kHz).Paired t-test analysis was performed on the thresholds of SVR and PTA at each frequency(0.5,1,2 and 4 kHz),and analysis of variance was performed on the difference between the pure tone audiometry threshold and the evoked potential threshold among different frequency.Results At each frequency(0.5,1,2 kHz and 4 kHz),difference between the thresholds acquired with SVR and PTA was statistically significant(P<0.05).The mean difference of the two thresholds were(5.98±6.72) dB HL at 0.5 kHz,(3.86±6.12) dB HL at 1 kHz,(7.12±6.56) dB HL at 2 kHz,(8.53±7.90) dB HL at 4 kHz,and the mean difference at 1 kHz was the smallest.This variation between frequencies was also statistically significant.Conclusion The thresholds acquired with SVR were higher than those acquired with PTA.The adjusted thresholds should be established at each frequency,when the SVR thresholds are used to evaluate the behavioural hearing thresholds.

Key words: forensic medicine, auditory threshold, audiometry, pure-tone, evoked potentials, auditory