Audiograms

Question 1

conductive hearing loss

Answer 1

bone is WNL and better than air

Question 2

sensorineural hearing loss

Answer 2

air and bone are equal but outside normal limits

Question 3

mixed hearing loss

Answer 3

bone is better than air, but bone is not WNL

Question 4

describing severity of hearing loss

Answer 4

least amount of hearing loss to greatest amount of hearing loss

Question 5

configuration

Answer 5

extent of hearing loss at each frequency (i.e. high frequency loss, flat loss)

Question 6

bilateral vs. unilateral

Answer 6

• bilateral = hearing loss in both ears
• unilateral = hearing loss in one ear only

Question 7

symmetrical vs. assymetrical

Answer 7

• symmetrical = degree and configuration is same for both ears (bilateral)
• asymmetrical = 2 ears differ in degree and/or configuration (unilateral)

Question 8

fluctuating vs. stable

Answer 8

• fluctuating hearing loss changes sometimes frequently
• stable remains the same

Question 9

flat configuration

Answer 9

thresholds are relatively equal across all frequencies

Question 10

high frequency configuration

Answer 10

greatest hearing loss in the higher frequencies

Question 11

low frequency or reverse curve configuration

Answer 11

greatest amount of hearing loss in the low frequenices

Question 12

saucer/cookie-bite configuration

Answer 12

greatest amount of loss in the mid frequencies

Question 13

noise notch configuration

Answer 13

typically decrease in threshold at 4000 Hz (can be 3000-6000) with a recovery at 8000 Hz

Question 14

ski slope configuration

Answer 14

rapid decrease in threshold responses after 250 and 500 Hz

Question 15

how to calculate pure tone average (PTA)

Answer 15

• take air conduction thresholds t 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz
• add them together and then divide by 3
• round it to the closest 5 dB

Question 16

bone cannot be better than air

Answer 16

if graph shows this, either malingering or equipment malfunction

Question 17

how do we know when to mask?

Answer 17

• when there is a 40 dB difference between ears at a particular frequency
• you must look at each frequency separately