Audiological Diagnostics Glossary

The paradoxical decline in word recognition score when presentation intensity is increased beyond the optimal level, con...

Hearing loss resulting from damage to or dysfunction of the cochlea (sensory component) or the auditory nerve (neural co...

The decibel difference between a target signal (e.g., speech) and competing background noise, used in audiology to quant...

A test that measures a patient's ability to detect small (1 dB) increments in intensity, used historically to identify c...

Abbreviation for signal-to-noise ratio; the decibel difference between a target signal and competing background noise in...

A method of audiometric testing in which stimuli are delivered through loudspeakers in a calibrated room rather than thr...

A set of audiological tests using speech stimuli—rather than pure tones—to assess how well a patient detects and discrim...

An informal term for the banana-shaped region on an audiogram where the frequencies and intensities of conversational sp...

A class of audiological tests measuring a patient's ability to understand speech when presented against a background of...

The lowest hearing level in dB at which a patient can correctly identify 50% of presented spondaic words, used to valida...

A significant change in hearing threshold relative to a baseline audiogram, typically defined as an average shift of 10...

The lowest intensity level at which contraction of the stapedius muscle is measurably elicited in response to a loud sou...

A subjective audiological test used to detect unilateral non-organic (feigned or exaggerated) hearing loss, based on the...

A sustained DC electrical response generated by cochlear hair cells during acoustic stimulation, recorded via electrococ...

Transient-Evoked Otoacoustic Emission; a broadband otoacoustic emission elicited by a brief click or tone-burst stimulus...

A measurable change in a person's hearing threshold level compared to a previous baseline audiogram, indicating a worsen...

The perception of sound—commonly described as ringing, buzzing, or hissing—in the absence of an external acoustic stimul...

A validated 25-item self-report questionnaire used to quantify the functional, emotional, and catastrophic impact of tin...

A diagnostic procedure that assesses the ability to sustain perception of a continuous tone at threshold, with rapid dec...

The graphical output of tympanometry, plotting middle ear admittance against ear canal air pressure, classified into typ...

The air-pressure level (in daPa) at which tympanometric compliance reaches its maximum, indicating the pressure at which...

An objective test that measures the mobility (compliance) of the tympanic membrane and middle ear system in response to...

A flat tympanogram trace showing no identifiable peak, indicative of absent or severely reduced middle ear mobility, mos...

A tympanogram trace in which the pressure peak is shifted to a significantly negative value (typically more negative tha...