The effects of age on the diagnostic utility of the rollover phenomenon.

Articulation curves were constructed for 32 elderly listeners with hearing according to previously established decadal age norms. Each function was specifically examined for the presence of rollover, a previously determined indicator of retrocochlear pathology. Rollover exhibited by six subjects was an age-related phenomenon. It is suggested that normal neural degeneration concomitant with the aging process is responsible for this auditory behavior and that clinical significance of the rollover phenomenon is greatly reduced when dealing with the aged population. Implications for the use of the rollover index are also discussed.