Audiometry

Audiometry is a method of examining hearing using a special device called an audiometer.

Audiometry allows you to determine hearing thresholds - the minimum volume of sound at different frequencies that a person is still able to hear. The study is carried out for each ear separately by sending tonal messages of different frequencies (125-8000 Hz) and intensity through headphones.

The results of audiometry are recorded on a special form - an audiogram. Using an audiogram, the doctor can determine the type, degree and nature of hearing loss, as well as the dynamics of changes during repeated studies.

Audiometry is the main method for diagnosing hearing impairment and is widely used in otorhinolaryngology, audiology, neurology, pediatrics, and occupational pathology.

This test is designed to evaluate a person's hearing ability to distinguish sounds - pure and monotonous tones, as well as speech and other complex and familiar sound elements found in everyday life. This may involve reading whispered speech at different distances, playing tones of different frequencies in front of the subject's face, or listening to tape-recorded speech.

An audiogram obtained by audiometry can reflect the listener's ability to perceive sounds with frequencies up to almost 20 thousand hertz and their differences in pitch at frequencies from the low-frequency part of the scale to its highest frequencies. This range on the audiogram descends along a curve from bottom to top, like a musical scale. Also of some importance are data associated with the last frequency categories of the audiogram, which usually remain hidden for the vast majority of people, since in order to understand speech, the ear must perceive high and ultra-high frequencies.

Often, the results of measurements are recorded on paper or on a tape recording machine - the sound is recorded, which is listened to by the examining device or by the subjects themselves through a microphone.