Hearing Case History

On your first visit, the audiologist will ask several questions to better understand your (or your child’s) medical and hearing background. For example:

• What brought you here today?
• Have you noticed difficulty with your hearing? What have you noticed, and for how long? When do you think the hearing loss began?
• Does your hearing problem affect both ears or just one ear?
• Has your difficulty with hearing been gradual or sudden?
• Do you have ringing (tinnitus) in your ears?
• Do you have a history of ear infections?
• Have you noticed any pain in your ears or any discharge from your ears?
• Do you experience dizziness?
• Is there a family history of hearing loss?
• Do you have greater difficulty hearing women’s, men’s, or children’s voices?
• Do people comment on the volume setting of your television?
• Has someone said that you speak too loudly in conversation?
• Do you frequently have to ask people to repeat?
• Do you hear people speaking but can’t understand what is being said?
• Do you have any history of exposure to noise at home … at work … in recreational activities … in the military?
• Are there situations where it is particularly difficult for you to follow a conversation, such as a noisy restaurant, the theater, in a car, or in large groups?

For children, the questions that are asked will center on:

• Speech and language development
• Health history
• Recognition of and response to familiar sounds
• The startle response to loud, unexpected sounds
• The presence of other disabilities
• Any previous hearing screening or testing results