Audiometry: What Does It Look Like and How Do I Interpret It?

An audiogram measures a patient's auditory threshold responses with pure-tone stimuli across a range of sound frequencies that are important for human communication, typically 250 Hz to 8000 Hz. The threshold is the sound intensity level at which an individual detects the tone 50% of the time. Hearing loss severity is referenced to a healthy population (A). An audiologist generally assesses both air-conducted (circles) and bone-conducted sound (brackets). Both results are graphed with frequency on the x-axis, measured in Hertz (Hz), and the threshold for sound intensity on the y-axis, measured in decibels hearing level (dB HL). B) Sensorineural hearing loss can be differentiated from C) conductive hearing loss by the presence of a air-bone gap in which a difference exists between air-conduction and bone-conduction thresholds. Some patients with both conductive and sensorineural components of hearing loss in the same ear are said to have mixed hearing loss D). In patients with age-related hearing loss (B), an audiogram typically displays symmetric hearing loss primarily at higher frequencies between 2000 and 8000 Hz. Only right ear data is graphed for simplicity.