Audiometric Testing Procedures Flashcards

What should the technician do if the daily biological calibration check shows a 15 dB deviation at one frequency?

Answer: Remove the audiometer from service until it can be acoustically calibrated

A deviation of 10 dB or more during daily biological calibration requires the audiometer to be removed from service and sent for acoustic calibration.

What is the proper patient instruction before beginning a pure-tone hearing test?

Answer: Respond whenever you hear the tone, even if it is very faint

Patients should be instructed to respond to even the faintest tones they can hear, as threshold is defined by the softest detectable sound level.

Which of the following would most likely cause falsely elevated hearing thresholds during testing?

Answer: Collapsed ear canals from headphone pressure

Collapsed ear canals, particularly common in elderly patients, can occur when supra-aural headphones compress the soft tissue of the ear canal, attenuating the test signal.

What is the purpose of masking in audiometric testing?

Answer: To prevent the non-test ear from responding to signals presented to the test ear

Masking introduces noise to the non-test ear to eliminate cross-hearing, ensuring that thresholds measured truly represent the test ear sensitivity.

During a retest at 1000 Hz, the threshold differs by 10 dB from the initial measurement. What should the technician do?

Answer: Retest the entire ear at all frequencies

When the 1000 Hz retest differs by more than 5 dB from the initial measurement, the entire ear must be retested to ensure reliability.

What is the minimum duration for each test tone presentation during manual audiometry?

Answer: 1 to 2 seconds

Test tones should be presented for 1 to 2 seconds during manual audiometry, with varied intervals between presentations.