When will you should take audiometry test?

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 360 million people worldwide have hearing loss, including 32 million children under the age of 15. Therefore, audiometry plays an important role in social development. Early detection of hearing problems improves quality of life and limits health consequences.

1. Who needs audiometry  test?

Hearing loss can appear at any age in particular with the following cases:

- Children: Infants or toddlers who do not respond to noises from behind and do not startl by loud sounds. Hearing loss in children can lead to delays in speech and language development as well as social and behavioral problems.

- The elderly: Hearing loss affects to 55-60 years old. The organs become aging, reduce ability to receive and transmit information.

- People working in noisy environment: miners, carpenters, quarry workers, welders, masons, train drivers, people working in factories.

- People who are sick: People suffering from inflammatory diseases in the ear, nasopharyngitis, complications on the ear such as otitis media, inner ear infection, meningitis. People with cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure and diabetes that interfere with blood flow to the ears. 

- People who have to take medicine: Some medicine have side effects causing tinnitus or medicine for tuberculosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer also causing hearing loss for long-term users.

- Head or ears injuries can cause perforation of the eardrum, rupture of the temporal bone and affect the structure of the inner ear, leading to hearing loss.

If there are symptoms such as hearing loss, sudden deafness, otitis media, other ear diseases or those listed above, you need to perform an audiological examination and measurement.

2. What is audiometry?

Audiometry present a chart illustrating hearing ability and the degree of hearing loss (if any) in each ear. The audiogram range from 125 to 8000 Hz. Audiometry helps detect early signs of hearing loss.

3. The audiometric process includes?

Subjective hearing measurement Doctors conduct hearing tests through specific methods such as:

Measure by voice

• Measure by sample tone: Doctor use a longitudinal sample tone in front of the outer ear, about 2cm away, or gently press the sample sound handle on the mastoid surface and conduct a reflex test.
• Measure with simple instruments: The doctor uses pronunciation instruments such as drums, whistles, muzzles, bells, train sounds, animal sounds....at a certain intensity to test the listening reflex. .
• Using a hearing meter - audiometer - monophonic audiometry: In this method, it is mandatory to conduct the measurement in a soundproof chamber. When connecting threshold points of hearing at frequencies will form an audiogram, also known as an audiogram.

Objective audiometer

• Based on results from the hearing organs in the middle and inner ear or central nervous system (brain). Impedance measurement or cochlear and auditory EEG measurements can be used. Based on the results of the hearing test or the audiogram, the doctor can assess patient's hearing ability is different from the normal level. On the other hand, audiometric results can determine whether the patient have difficulty in what kind of sound, need to use assistive devices such as hearing aids or not.

DR. CHAU HUYNH CAM TU