A key test for hearing in children and adults
The negative impact of environmental noise on human health and hearing is a serious problem that affects us all.
Good hearing is extremely important in everyday life. Our hearing is active every day, even during the night. The ability to listen significantly affects communication, learning, emotions, business and social life.
Unfortunately, the everyday life of modern man is deafened by the noise that has become commonplace. Television, radio, household appliances, traffic and construction work are sources of noise and potential causes of hearing damage.
Maintaining good hearing is essential for our overall health. One of the ways we can find out if we can hear normally or have hearing impairment is through tone audiometry (TA). Tone audiometry is a test that examines hearing.
According to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 10 million adults under the age of 70 and as many as 40 million over the age of 70 have some type of hearing loss.
The causes of hearing damage can be varied, from birth defects, long-term exposure to sounds of inappropriate volume (noise) to damage caused by the natural aging process. Hearing can be the result of chronic and acute inflammation of the middle and outer ear or other disorders in the middle ear.
The negative impact of environmental noise on human health and hearing is a serious problem that affects us all. The World Health Organization conducted a study on common noise levels in everyday life, according to which one in 5 people in Europe is regularly exposed to noise levels that can cause serious hearing damage.
In addition to environmental influences, hearing loss also occurs due to aging. About a third of people over the age of 65 have significant hearing loss. As we age, there are changes in our auditory system that cause hearing damage and loss.
It is estimated that approximately 1 to 3 in 1000 newborns have a hearing impairment. Hearing impairment is far more difficult to detect in younger children than in adults. It is most often noticed only in the 2nd or 3rd year of life due to improper speech development.
The most common hearing loss in children is caused by problems with the Eustachian tube, during which conductive hearing loss occurs, for the diagnosis of which tympanometry is very important.
Hearing is an important link in children’s emotional, social and cognitive development. Even mild hearing impairment at this age can negatively affect the ability to speak and language.
Tone audiometry as a term refers to the measurement of hearing, i.e. the testing of auditory sensitivity. It can be used to measure the severity and severity of hearing loss and examine the remaining hearing function. There are subjective and objective methods of examination.
Subjective methods for hearing testing use speech, whispering, pure tones, music tuners, tonal audiometry. Objective methods include tipanometry and otoacoustic emission.
Accometry is a hearing test with music tuners and is one of the oldest methods of hearing checking. Tonal audiometry determines the lowest sound intensity that the subject feels for a particular frequency. It is carried out through a special device – an audiometer.
Speech audiometry determines the ability to distinguish words by presenting the subject with words of different intensity until the strength is found at which the subject hears and repeats at least half of the words.
With audiometry, we actually determine the hearing threshold or the threshold of audibility. Our hearing is sensitive to mechanical vibrations, that is, changes in pressure that propagate through the air. The vibrations caused by sound waves are transmitted to the inner ear and converted into nerve impulses interpreted by the brain.
Each sound is determined by the frequency, which is measured in hertz (Hz) and the volume, i.e. the volume for which the unit of measurement is decibel (dB). We can hear sound with a frequency ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz and a strength of up to 120dB. During audiometry, we measure how a person feels the physical characteristics of sound, frequency and volume, and thus we get the amount of deviation from the normal hearing threshold.
As a result of audiometry , an audiogram is created, a graphical representation of the sensitivity of each ear to sounds of a certain frequency and volume.
The threshold of audibility is usually classified according to the following thresholds (HL stands for hearing threshold):
The methods we use in hearing tests are as follows:
It is performed using music tuners of different sizes and frequency characteristics (most often 256 and 512Hz). Acometry measures air and bone conduction and by comparing the reference values of normal hearing, the location and type of damage can be detected.
Hearing tests with music tuners cannot diagnose the severity of hearing damage.
It is still very useful for recognizing emergencies and distinguishing conductive from perceptual hearing impairment, and is often used in combination with other methods. The advantages of accometry are simplicity, duration and availability.
The test that determines the minimum threshold of pure tone hearing that a person hears is called tone audiometry.
The procedure is carried out by putting on headphones while sitting in a special chamber, a quiet room. A tone audiometer plays tones from low to high frequencies that the subject hears through headphones.
Your task is to signal which tones you hear by raising your hand or some other signal that you have agreed with the audiologist in advance.
As with accometry, tonal audiometry examines air conductivity, a natural way of listening where sound through the air through the ear canal reaches the eardrum and is transmitted further.
Bone conduction is also tested, where sound is transmitted directly to the bone behind the ear by a vibrating device and bypasses the ear canal, eardrum and auditory ossicles.
The minimum age for tonal audiometry is about 3 years, which varies from child to child.
Tympanometry is an objective method by which we examine the condition of the eardrum and middle ear. It is invaluable in detecting conductive hearing impairment. It can be done in all age groups as it does not require cooperation.
Tympanometry provides information about the condition of the auditory ossicles, eardrums and the patency of the Eustachian tube.
During speech audiometry, the ability to understand speech is examined, or more precisely, the ability to distinguish words in conditions with and without background noise. It can be carried out through headphones or speakers.
Instead of a pure tone, a test list of 10 words is used, which the subject listens to in both ears at the same time or alternately and then repeats. The audiologist measures the speech recognition threshold, how intelligibility improves with volume, and the maximum speech clarity
During speech audiometry, higher levels of the auditory pathway are tested, i.e. the threshold of speech perception is measured.
No special preparation is required to perform the audiometry test. Before performing a hearing test, our audiologist will explain how the test is performed.
In the event that hearing is tested in young children, the cooperation of parents is required.
We advise that before performing the test, you briefly explain to the children what will be done so that the testing is pleasant, fun and does not cause fear.
Our audiologists are especially looking forward to the “little patients”, so they’ll do their best to make the hearing test a positive and stress-free experience for them
We definitely recommend that you explain to your children that hearing testing is very important, but not overly scary, and that they must be honest during the test. In order to obtain reliable results, it is important for us that the child signals when he really hears a sound.
At the Lohuis Filipović Polyclinic , we have gathered an internationally recognized team of
doctors subspecialized in solving certain problems that occur in the field of hearing in adult patients and children.
Our hearing specialist is Doc. dr.sc. Jakov Ajduk, MD, PhD . – specialist in otorhinolaryngology, subspecialist in audiology, phoniatrics and otosurgery. For a consultation and examination with Dr. Ajduk, you can make an appointment by phone at +385 1 2444 646 or via the online form on our website.
Recognizing hearing loss is not very easy. Hearing loss usually does not occur suddenly, but occurs gradually.
With the weakening of hearing, certain everyday sounds seem to be lost. The voices around us dissipate , so we have the feeling that everyone is talking indistinctly. These symptoms do not appear suddenly, but hearing loss is progressive, i.e. it becomes more noticeable as time goes on.
In a situation where we need the interlocutor to repeat what he said several times or when we cannot accurately distinguish what is said (e.g. instead of blind we hear beautiful), we are often irritable and do not want to admit that there is a problem. It is not uncommon for people who are hard of hearing to withdraw into themselves, they do not want to participate in the conversation, especially if there is a large number of interlocutors.
Denying the symptoms of hearing loss is one of the difficulties in diagnosing hearing loss and hearing loss. According to research, people with hearing impairment tend to underestimate the severity of their condition and avoid treatment. That is why hearing examination and audiometry as a measurement of the level of hearing impairment are of great importance in the prevention of hearing loss.
If you have noticed hearing difficulties, we definitely recommend that you have a hearing examination and audiometry. With this test, you can get into the condition of your hearing and recommendations for further procedures that can preserve your hearing and stop the occurrence of hearing loss.
The main goal of LF Polyclinic is to improve the quality of life and health of our clients by providing them with top-notch healthcare services.
