The effect of body mass index on traditional 226 Hz tympanometry and wideband tympanometry test results

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of body mass index (BMI) on traditional 226 Hz tympanometryand wideband tympanometry (WBT) to gain a better understanding of resonance frequency.Patients and Methods: A total of 158 ears of 79 volunteers (19 males, 60 females; mean age: 20.5 years; range, 18 to 27 years)who had normal hearing and normal otoscopic examination findings were included in the study between October 2019 and June2020. By measuring the weight and height of the participants, their BMI values were classified into three groups: ≤18.5 kg/m2(underweight), 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2 (normal weight), and ≥25.0 kg/m2 (overweight). Tympanometric evaluations were conducted usingthe Interacoustics-Titan WBT.Results: The difference of ear canal volume (ECV) was significant between the two sexes (p0.05). Asignificant difference was found in the ECV and resonance frequency among the three BMI groups (p