Hearing tests are a common way of quantifying hearing loss. The hearing levels are plotted on an Audiogram that graphs the hearing levels and from these results your Audiologist can explain the nature and degree of your hearing loss. At Vida Percy Audiologists we carry out the following tests:

Central Auditory Processing Assessment (CAP test):

Central auditory processing assessment is a test carried out to access in simple terms 'the way our ears communicate to the brain and what does the brain do with the information what it hears'. Central auditory processing assessments are difficult and time consuming and should be carried out by a qualified Audiologist. Some of the areas of Central auditory processing assessment include assessments of attention and discrimination of sounds (speech and non speech sounds), understanding speech in degraded speech signals, speech with competing acoustic signals, auditory decoding, auditory association and integration and overall output organization of speech signal sounds and non-speech signal sounds. Normal these tests are carried out from the age of 7yrs onwards. Both children and Adults can be tested. These tests can take upto 3hours to complete. The test results will be reported after analyzing the results and appropriate recommendations will be send in for interventions.

Pure tone Audiometry Test:

This is the most common hearing test performed to quantify your hearing loss. Normal speech falls between frequencies 250Hz to 8kHz in a sound spectrum. The test measures the degree of hearing ability between these frequencies. This test can be usually performed on Adults and children over 5 years of age.

High Frequency Audiometry

High Frequency Audiometry is performed to quantify hearing loss beyond the normal speech frequency range from 10KHz to 16KHz. Hearing loss in this range mainly occurs in patients who are suffering from Tinnitus or acquired hearing loss due to prescribed medications.

Tympanometry

Tympanometry is a test used for measuring the movement of the ear drum, the middle ear functioning and the pressure in the middle ear. It can be performed on infants, children and adults.

Reflexometry

This is a test used for measuring the movement of the middle ear's tiny muscles and the overall functioning of the middle ear. This can be performed on infants, children and adults.

Speech Audiometry (Speech Test)

Speech tests are a very important part of hearing assessments as they measure how well a person can hear normal every day words in sentences. Understanding speech requires comprehending speech through auditory processing at different stages in the brain via the auditory nerve. A problem in any area of sound transmission and reception can impact your hearing rehabilitation. The results of this test will enable the Audiologist to determine what outcomes can be expected from prescribed amplification and can thus determine the best suited aural rehabilitation.

Play Audiometry Test

This is more like the pure tone Audiometry test, however, it is performed in young children 3 to 5 years old using play methods and positive reinforcements.

Pre-employment and Industrial Hearing Tests

This is a pure tone hearing test performed on anyone who is exposed to high intensity noise levels in their work place. A base line audiogram in established and is compared every year to monitor the hearing levels on a continuous audiogram. This should be performed every year.