Abstract Background: Cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) is an important tool in the audiological evaluation of vestibular function. Amplitude asymmetry (AR) offers additional diagnostic insight by identifying interaural differences in saccular or inferior vestibular nerve activity. However, the influence of stimulus frequency on cVEMP asymmetry among normal hearing and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) individuals remains underexplored. Aim: To compare cVEMP amplitude asymmetry ratios at 500 Hz, 750 Hz, and 1000 Hz across normal hearing and SNHL individuals. Materials and Methods: 100 normal hearing individuals and 106 individuals with SNHL aged 18–60 years were included. cVEMP recordings were obtained using the Biologic Navigator Pro system at 95 dB nHL with tone-burst stimuli (500 Hz, 750 Hz, and 1000 Hz). The amplitude asymmetry ratio was calculated for each frequency. Within-group frequency comparisons and between-group comparisons were performed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: SNHL participants generally exhibited higher asymmetry ratios compared to normal hearing individuals, with notable differences across most age ranges. Within-group frequency effects were minimal among normal hearing participants, whereas older adults with SNHL demonstrated comparatively greater asymmetry variation across frequencies. Conclusion: cVEMP responses can be reliably obtained at 500 Hz, 750 Hz, and 1000 Hz, indicating the clinical utility of higher frequencies for asymmetry evaluation. Amplitude asymmetry analysis provides additional diagnostic value and supports the inclusion of SNHL participants as a meaningful comparative group in vestibular research.
Ruia et al. (Wed,) studied this question.