1.01 - Hearing Assessment Review Flashcards
Does an Audiogram tell us the whole story of someone’s hearing?
No
What is an Audiogram?
A general description of magnitude and type of hearing loss
What does an audiogram not tell us?
All of the communication difficulties that may be experienced
What implications about hearing abilities can be made from an audiogram?
Predictions about sound access
Need for listening device usage
What are the goals of Audiometric Testing?
4
Determine the TYPE & DEGREE of hearing loss
Determine the FREQUENCIES affected
Determine WHICH EARS are involved (Unilateral vs. bilateral (laterality), symmetry)
Estimate SPEECH UNDERSTANDING abilities
What is an air-bone gap?
The difference between air and bone conduction levels
When is an air-bone gap clinically significant?
When it is greater that 10 dB
What is Conductive Hearing Loss?
The damage or insult is in the outer or middle ear
Air conducted signal transmission is “blocked” from reaching the cochlea
Bone conduction transmission is better than air conduction
What is Sensorineural hearing loss?
Generally due to abnormality from damage to the inner or outer hair cell sensory receptors or other structures within the cochlea
Results in a decrease in the clarity of the auditory signal
Can also be caused by problems with auditory nerve fibers, the auditory auditory nerve (VIII) or auditory central nervous system from the brain stem to the cerebral cortex
What is mixed hearing loss?
4
Conductive and sensorineural hearing loss combined.
Bone conduction thresholds are outside the normal limits
Can be temporary (impacted cerumen, perforated tympanic membrane, etc.)
Can be permanent (disarticulation that is not surgically correctable, eardrum that cannot be repaired)
What is nonorganic hearing loss?
The feigning or exaggeration of a hearing impairment, usually for ulterior motive
Psychogenic hearing loss or hysterical deafness (a physical manifestation as a result of severe anxiety or emotional trauma.)
What are two other names for nonorganic hearing loss?
“Functional” HL
“Malingering” HL
Why are there Hearing Aid Limitations in SNHL?
SNHL is not just a reduction of sound intensity
SNHL also
- Causes differences in how loudness is perceived - Causes differences in how brief sounds are processed - Reduces ability to resolve frequencies.
“The perceptual consequences of SNHL” are more “than ______ represented by an audiogram.”
Reduced sensitivity
What are the four main characteristics of sensorineural hearing impairment?
Reduced sensitivity (things need to be louder)
Recruitment
Reduced frequency selectivity (some pitches are more distinct than other pitches)
Reduced temporal resolution
What is Recruitment?
Abnormal growth of loudness,
Sounds are judged to be louder than they actually are
Loudness grows abnormally in perception
What is Temporal Resolution?
The ability to process acoustic signals over time.
This includes the order of sounds, discrimination between similar words and consonants
Why is temporal resolution so important?
If you can’t process acoustic signals over time properly, it will effect your ability to understand speech and parts of speech
Why is temporal resolution so important to speech?
Speech occurs rapidly over time
If you don’t get all the frequency resolution and timing, you will have trouble understanding
The auditory system must be capable of ______ & ______ the fast changes in the acoustic signals of speech.
Processing
Analyzing
Damage in the ______ of the ear and auditory pathways causes problems (smearing) in processing the ______ of sound.
Sensory and/or neural components
Temporal features
Why is amplification not enough to help with compromised temporal resolution?
The distortions in the speech will be perceived by the individual even if it is made louder
When does temporal resolution begin to decrease?
When we get older
“The cochlea is a dynamic system that operates on the auditory signal in a ______ and ______ manner.”
Nonlinear
Time-varying
