Pure-Tone Acuity, Speech-Hearing Ability And Deafness In Acoustic Trauma

Abstract

From the literature, it is shown that pure-tone and speech-reception threshold are related in people with sensorineural disorder (as a general diagnostic category). The same cannot be reliably concluded, however, from results in people with a cochlear disturbance, such as acoustic trauma. A similar distinction emerges in regard to tonal acuity and speech-discrimination ability. One overall conclusion which can also be drawn is that most studies in this field lack strick adherence to scientific procedures.

On the question of the validity of either tonal or speech tests for the assessment of deafness (hearing loss in everyday life), a preliminary conclusion is that, in people with acoustic trauma, most existing tests lack this validity.

Key Words:

• Noise-induced hearing loss
• Conventional speech audiometry
• Pure-tone audiometry
• Everyday hearing