French Society of ENT (SFORL) Guidelines (Short Version): Audiometry in Adults and Children
European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Diseases
Favier, V., Vincent, C., et al. (2018).
European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Diseases, 135(5), 341-347.
This guideline from the French Society of ENT, or Society Francaise d'Oto-Rhino-Laryngologie et de Chirurgie de la Face et du Cou (SFORL), provides good consensus-based practice recommendations on the use of audiometric examination in adults and children by ENT physicians, professionals who work with hearing aids, and speech-language pathologists.
French Society of ENT (SFORL; France)
"In children aged 2 years or younger, subjective audiometry should be performed using age-adapted behavioral tests" (p. 346). "Behavioral audiometry should be supplemented by objective tests to determine and confirm the level and type of [hearing loss]" (p. 346).
When conducting pure-tone threshold audiometry in adults, "air- and bone-conduction pure-tone audiometry should systematically adhere to personalized masking rules" (p. 342). "It should be ensured that the masking level is not over masking" (p. 343).
"Adult pure-tone audiometry should be interpreted in the light of clinical data, speech audiometry, and impedancemetry" (p. 344).
When completing and audiometric evaluation in children or adults, "clinical audiometric examination should be conducted in an acoustically controlled environment (<30 dBA); device quality should be checked by regular recalibration" (p. 341).
When completing an audiometric evaluation in children or adults, if pure-tone and speech audiometry results do not match the clinical data, additional objective audiometry (e.g., transient evoked otoacoustic (TEOAE), electrocochleography (ECochG), auditory steady state response (ASSR)) should be performed.
