- Main types of audiometry
- 1. Tonal Audiometry
- 2. Vocal audiometry
- How the exam is done
- How to prepare for the exam
Audiometry is an auditory examination that serves to assess the hearing capacity of the person in the interpretation of sounds and words, allowing the detection of important hearing changes, especially in people who work in very noisy environments.
There are two main types of audiometry tests: tonal and vocal. The tonal lets you know the range of frequencies that the person can hear, while the vocal focuses more on the ability to understand certain words.
This examination must be carried out in a special booth, isolated from noise, lasts about 30 minutes, does not cause pain and is usually performed by a speech therapist.
Main types of audiometry
There are two main types of audiometry, which are:
1. Tonal Audiometry
Tonal audiometry is an exam that assesses the person's hearing capacity, allowing him to determine his hearing threshold, lower and upper, in a frequency spectrum that varies between 125 and 8000 Hz.
The auditory threshold is the minimum level of sound intensity that is necessary so that the pure tone can be perceived half the time it is presented, for each frequency.
2. Vocal audiometry
Vocal audiometry assesses the person's ability to understand certain words, to distinguish certain sounds, which are emitted through headphones, with different sound intensities. In this way, the person must repeat the words spoken by the examiner.
How the exam is done
The audiometry exam is performed inside a booth isolated from other noises that may interfere with the exam. The person wears special headphones and must indicate to the speech therapist, raising a hand, for example, when hearing sounds, which can be emitted at different frequencies and alternately to each ear.
This test does not cause any pain and lasts approximately half an hour.
How to prepare for the exam
No special preparation is required to take this exam. However, in some cases, it may be recommended that the person avoid being exposed to loud and constant noise during the 14 hours before.
