The biggest benefit that OAEs provide over audiograms is that changes in OAEs may be detected long before there are changes in hearing.
Lynne Marshall, senior research scientist at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory, Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, CT and Judi A. Lapsley Miller, formerly a research scientist at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory, New Zealand, write about the role which otoacoustic emissions can play in the hearing conservation program. The full article is available at the ASHA website, published in the ASHA Leader Online.
Also note the sidebar on a study on Sailor’s Hearing Loss, also from the ASHA Leader Online.