Pure Tone Audiometry and Speech Audiometry

Considering the scope of practice of SLTs, as set out by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, this chapter provides a general introduction to pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry for clinicians with practical guidance. According to the pure tone audiometry testing procedure recommended by the British Society of Audiology, the ambient noise level should be under 30-35 dBA in a clinical setting, which roughly corresponds to the noise level during whispering. Speech audiometry is an important clinical tool to assess the impact of hearing loss on a person’s ability to recognize and understand the speech signal they are hearing. Therefore, the major clinical contributions of speech audiometry are Speech materials used for speech audiometry can be open-set. Pure tone audiometry is a fundamental clinical tool to assess an individual’s hearing status in terms of the degree, type and configuration of hearing loss.