Clinical hearing assessments are categorized into two main methods: subjective audiometry and objective audiometry.
Subjective audiometry relies on the test subject's personal judgment of auditory stimuli and is also referred to as behavioral audiometry. It reflects the actual hearing functional level of the subject. However, the results of subjective audiometry are influenced by factors such as the subject's awareness, emotional state, age, educational background, reaction capability, and level of behavioral cooperation. Therefore, in certain situations (e.g., in cases of non-organic hearing loss, intellectual disabilities, young children, or individuals with delayed responses), a degree of error may occur. Subjective audiometry includes methods such as speech testing, tuning fork tests, pure-tone audiometry, suprathreshold hearing tests, Békésy audiometry, and speech audiometry.
Objective audiometry, on the other hand, does not require behavioral cooperation from the subject and is not influenced by their subjective awareness. Common objective audiometric methods used clinically include tympanometry, electrophysiological audiometry, and otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing. Electrophysiological audiometry is typically applied in infants and young children, cases of non-organic or psychogenic hearing loss, and for the differentiation of sensorineural hearing impairments or for various classifications of hearing assessments. However, some objective audiometric methods have limitations in terms of frequency specificity, which may make it difficult to provide precise evaluations of hearing thresholds at individual frequencies.
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