Audiogram Interpretation

Intermediate

Hamill_Audio_Interp_Intermed_Case_1

Author

Teri Hamill, PhD, AudStudent.com

Case History

K.S. is 14 years old, with a history of asymmetrical, progressive hearing loss.

Otoscopy

Tympanic membranes are pearly gray in color. The cone of light is visible in each ear. Only minimal cerumen is present in each ear.

Audiometric Data

Pure tone test/retest results showed threshold variation of less than or equal to 5 dB.

• Describe the right ear hearing loss as a [degree of loss at 250 Hz] loss that is [flat, sloping or steeply sloping] to a [degree of loss at 8000 Hz] loss.

• Describe the left ear hearing loss as a [degree of loss at 250 Hz] loss that is [flat, sloping or steeply sloping] to a [degree of loss at 8000 Hz] loss.

• Is it medically necessary to conduct right unmasked bone-conduction testing?

• With only the information provided, what would you categorize the right ear loss type?

• With only the information provided, what would you categorize the left ear loss type?

• Is masking needed?

MLV = Monitored Live Voice          NU-6 = Northwestern University List 6

CID W-22 = Central Institute of the Deaf, Word List 22.  

PB-K = Phonetically Balanced – Kindergarten  10 MD = 10 Most Difficult

• Calculate the 2- and 3-frequency pure tone averages.

• Do the spondee thresholds agree with the pure-tone averages?

• Is the left ear word recognition score significantly different from the right ear score? (Use Thorton and Raffin binomial variability analysis. This reference may be of help. Hornsby & Mueller (2013)   https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/word-recognition-testing-puzzling-disconnect-11978 )

• If binaural word recognition testing were conducted, how poor would the score have to be to show that the word recognition is poorer than that for just the right ear alone?