What is Speech Audiometry?
Speech audiometry is a valuable tool for assessing a person’s ability to understand speech. However, it is important to remember that speech audiometry is just one part of a comprehensive hearing evaluation.
What is Speech Audiometry?
Speech audiometry is a type of hearing test that is used to measure a person’s ability to understand speech. The test is conducted in a sound booth, with the stimuli presented through headphones or earphones. The audiologist will present a series of speech stimuli at different levels, and the patient will be asked to repeat the words or sentences that they hear. The results of the speech audiometry test will be used to determine the patient’s speech reception threshold (SRT), word recognition score, and other measures of speech understanding.
How is Speech Audiometry Test Done?
Speech audiometry is typically conducted in a sound booth, which is a room that is designed to block out outside noise. The patient will sit in the sound booth and wear headphones or earphones. The audiologist will then present a series of speech stimuli at different levels. The stimuli are typically two-syllable spondee words, which are words that are easy to understand because they have a clear stress pattern. The patient will be asked to repeat the words that they hear. The audiologist will continue to present the stimuli at lower and lower levels until the patient can no longer repeat the words correctly. This is the patient’s speech reception threshold (SRT).
The audiologist may also present a series of single-syllable words or sentences to the patient. The patient will be asked to repeat the words or sentences that they hear. The audiologist will use these results to calculate the patient’s word recognition score.
Why is Speech Audiometry Performed?
Speech audiometry is performed to assess a person’s ability to understand speech. This information can be used to diagnose hearing loss, determine the severity of hearing loss, and assess the effectiveness of hearing aids. Speech audiometry can also be used to assess a person’s ability to understand speech in noise.
What is the Difference Between Audiometry and Speech Audiometry?
Audiometry is a general term that refers to any type of hearing test. Speech audiometry is a specific type of audiometry that is used to measure a person’s ability to understand speech. Other types of audiometry include pure-tone audiometry, which measures a person’s ability to hear pure tones, and tympanometry, which measures the movement of the eardrum.