Frequency Amplitude Ratio of Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential in Different Age Groups

BACKGROUND: High levels of sound intensity can be detected by the vestibular system. It is a clinical method used to assess the vestibularsystem’s response to sound stimulation. In healthy individuals, research has indicated that the use of low-frequency stimuli results in decreasedvestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) thresholds, especially a 500 Hz tone-burst. As people age, their frequency tuning changes, movingtowards higher frequencies.METHODS: Eighty healthy participants participated in this cross-sectional investigation. Both air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC) wereused as stimulation methods in the ocular VEMP (oVEMP) test. The following oVEMP parameters were assessed in the study: the inter-frequencypeak amplitude ratio (FAR). Furthermore, a rectified FAR (Frequency Amplitude Ratio)—a technique that normalizes the VEMP response amplitude according to the strength of muscle contraction as determined by EMG (Electromyogram) —was examined.RESULTS: Statistically significant differences in FAR and rFAR (rectified Frequency Amplitude Ratio) of oVEMP were observed among the 5 agegroups when using both AC and BC stimuli.CONCLUSION: This study used both AC and BC stimuli to determine age norms for the FAR (1000/500 Hz) of oVEMP. When compared to youngerage groups, participants over 50 had much greater FAR and corrected FAR values. Comparable FAR results were obtained from both AC and BCstimuli, suggesting that either approach can be utilized for testing.