Audiometric evaluation and diagnosis of conductive hearing loss

Definitive diagnosis of conductive hearing loss requires a comprehensive audiological evaluation by a skilled audiologist. Threshold testing is performed with both air and bone conduction stimuli and frequently necessitates masking strategies. The fundamental aspects of bone conduction audiometry will be reviewed. Patients with bilateral conductive or mixed hearing loss need advanced strategies, such as the Rainville estimation method to acquire ear specific thresholds.¹ One hallmark of conductive hearing loss is preserved word recognition due to intact cochlear function. Immittance testing is another important component to comprehensive audiometry and can provide important information about the site of the conductive lesion. This article will review the fundamental aspects of the audiologic assessment of conductive hearing loss and touch on areas of recent research advances, including the assessment of high frequency conductive hearing loss using specialized bone conduction hardware.