Hearing Tests

 Pure tone audiometry (PTA) is the key hearing test used to identify hearing threshold levels of an individual, enabling determination of the degree, type and configuration of a hearing loss and thus providing a basis for diagnosis and management. 

PTA is a subjective, behavioral measurement of a hearing threshold, as it relies on patient responses to pure tone stimuli. Therefore, PTA is only used on adults and children old enough to cooperate with the test procedure. 

 Speech audiometry assesses a patient’s auditory ability using words, which are much more representative of everyday listening experience than pure tones. Measuring the ability to perceive speech gives the clinician a clearer picture of the patient’s functional hearing ability and is extremely valuable to predict a patient’s success with hearing aids. 

 Conditioned play audiometry (CPA) or simply play audiometry allows an audiologist to test the hearing of very young toddlers and preschoolers. CPA uses behavioral conditioning to get kids to respond to sounds. It is designed for children between 2 and 5 years of age. 

 Along with representing your levels of hearing loss an audiogram can also show where your hearing lies when wearing your hearing technology. The levels of hearing that you achieve when wearing hearing aids, cochlear implants or bone conducting hearing implants are called ‘aided thresholds’ 

 Behavioral observation audiometry is a test performed in children under 3 years of age, non-cooperating children, children with disabilities, with a diagnosis of autism or CP. The test is performed in order to evaluate the response of auditory child when choosing a hearing aid or to assess the benefits of the hearing aid or the cochlear implant. As the name suggests is based on the study of behavioral and involuntary reflexes of the child. 

 Tympanometry provides useful quantitative information about the presence of fluid in the middle ear, mobility of the middle ear system, and ear canal volume. Its use has been recommended in conjunction with more qualitative information (e.g., history, appearance, and mobility of the tympanic membrane) in the evaluation of otitis media with effusion and to a lesser extent in acute otitis media. It also can provide useful information about the potency of tympanostomy tubes.