Auditory sensitivity and tone-sequence reproduction in oral contraceptive users and nonusers.

In two stages spanning a single academic year, 10 women using oral contraceptives and 11 not using oral contraceptives were tested on their auditory threshold sensitivity to six frequencies (250, 750, 1500, 3000, 6000, and 8000 Hz) as a function of phases of the menstrual cycle. 11 women (5 users and 6 nonusers) were also tested on their ability to reproduce successively longer tone sequences. Results showed that there was little variation due to phase of the menstrual cycle, with the exception that oral contraceptive users showed lower relative thresholds at low frequencies during the postmenstrual phase. Over-all, oral contraceptive users had higher absolute and relative thresholds than nonusers, except at 3000 Hz. Although not statistically significant, results on the tone-reproduction test showed an enhanced ability to reproduce tones during the premenstrual phase for women using oral contraceptives. Results are discussed in relation to previous findings.