Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of acoustic stimulus intensity on air-conducted sound elicited ocular vestibularevoked
myogenic potential (oVEMP) and cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) in normal young Chinese
subjects. Methods Thirty-five normal subjects aged 4-40 years (20.80 ± 8.89 years), including 16 males and 19 females, were
recruited for conventional oVEMP and cVEMP examinations. The responses obtained from each side using 500 Hz tone bursts
were divided into 6 groups according to different sound intensities (100, 95, 90, 85, 80 and 75dB nHL). The response rate and
normal parameters of each stimulus intensity group were calculated. Results As the acoustic stimulus intensity decreased, the
oVEMP response rate decreased from 100% in both 100 dB nHL and 95dB nHL groups to 97.14% (90 dB nHL), 54.29% (85 dB
nHL), 14.29% (80 dB nHL), and 2.86% (75 dB nHL), and the response rate of cVEMP, 100% in both 100 dB nHL and 95dB nHL
groups, was lowered to 97.14% (90 dB nHL), 84.29% (85 dB nHL), 38.57% (80 dB nHL) and 8.57% (75 dB nHL). The response
rate and the parameters were comparable between 100 and 95 dB nHL groups. Conclusion As the acoustic stimulus intensity
decreases, both oVEMP and cVEMP show decreased response rate and amplitude. For Chinese subjects under 40 years of age,
we recommend 95dB nHL as the maximum initial stimulus intensity in VEMPs test.