Audiogram Interpretation

Excerpt

More than 16% of adult Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. Accurately diagnosing and managing hearing loss is essential in patients of all ages, whether for safety and quality of life in adults or for developmental reasons in children. Subtle findings in young patients may warrant referral for audiometry, as children with slight hearing impairment may suffer from speech and language delays. Audiometric threshold data, also known as pure-tone testing, have been used clinically since the 1920s to categorize the degree and type of hearing loss. Audiometric testing utilizes various intensities of sound emitted over a range of frequencies to determine deficits in hearing, and results are plotted on a graph known as an audiogram. The configurations and patterns displayed on the audiogram help healthcare providers understand the etiology and severity of a patient's hearing loss.

Audiograms are most useful for objectively identifying deficits in hearing by looking at how sound travels through the auditory system via air or bone conduction. Air conduction measures sound transmission from the outer ear, through the middle ear, and into the inner ear, where signals are sent to the central nervous system (CNS) for auditory processing. In contrast, bone conduction measures transmission only from the inner ear to the CNS. Despite the ability of this powerful tool to guide clinical practice in managing patients with hearing loss, many healthcare providers have difficulty accurately interpreting an audiogram. This review aims to explore the basic principles of audiometry and discuss the audiogram's interpretation, including examples of common pathologies that can be diagnosed via audiometry.