AUDIOGRAM INTERPRETATION

Course overview

AUDIOMETRY IS AN ESSENTIAL MEANS OF ASSESSING HEARING THRESHOLDS IN PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH HEARING LOSS. THE AUDIOGRAM QUANTIFIES AND VISUALLY DISPLAYS A PATIENT'S DEGREE AND TYPE OF HEARING LOSS (SENSORINEURAL, CONDUCTIVE, OR MIXED). FURTHERMORE, VARIOUS ETIOLOGIES OF HEARING LOSS MAY DEMONSTRATE CHARACTERISTIC PATTERNS ON THE AUDIOGRAM, MAKING THIS TESTING MODALITY CRITICAL FOR DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSES. AUDIOGRAMS ARE MOST USEFUL FOR OBJECTIVELY IDENTIFYING DEFICITS IN HEARING BY LOOKING AT HOW SOUND TRAVELS THROUGH THE AUDITORY SYSTEM VIA AIR CONDUCTION 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. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE INTERPRETATION OF AUDIOGRAMS AND THEIR ROLE IN IDENTIFYING PATTERNS OF OTOLOGIC DISEASE.