Interpreting your CHEARS Data Form
If you have completed the CHEARS hearing assessment, thank you! You should have received a copy of your data form within 8 weeks after your test so that you can see your results and share them with your Primary Care Provider (PCP) if follow-up was recommended. Below, please find a brief description of how to interpret the information on your data form.
On page 2 of the handwritten CHEARS data form (or page 3 for the typed form), there is a section labeled "Air Conduction", that provides the results for when the audiologist measured your hearing thresholds at different frequencies in each ear. The frequencies are listed in "hertz" across the top (500hz to 8000hz), which is how high pitched the tone was (higher frequency is higher pitch). For RIGHT (ear) and LEFT (ear), there is a number entered underneath each frequency. This is measured in decibels (dB) and is the softest sound that you could hear at that frequency (pitch). This is referred to as the ‘threshold’ for that frequency in that ear.
For example, if in the left ear at a frequency of 4000 hz the number "20" is written, that would mean the softest sound you could hear at that frequency was 20 decibels. This is about the loudness of a watch ticking (click here to see decibel levels of common sounds). Higher threshold numbers indicate that the tone was not heard until it was played at a louder volume.
The box marked “familiarize” in the Air Conduction section was a practice run. To ensure that you understood the directions about how and when to respond to the tone and that everything we working properly, they did a practice at 1000 hz before beginning the actual assessment and working through each frequency.
“Bone Conduction” is another method used to assess the quietest sound you could hear at each specific frequency. To do this, they placed a small vibrator behind your ear and the sound is transmitted through the bones in the skull rather than through the air. This method is used to see if there is a significant difference between these thresholds and the thresholds obtained in the Air Conduction assessment. If the difference at a specific frequency is more than 10 decibels, this raises the possibility of a middle ear problem.
As people age, it is not uncommon to lose some very high frequency hearing first and to have slightly elevated thresholds at the higher frequencies. Below is a table that provides information on degrees of hearing loss according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. For links to additional information about hearing and hearing loss, click here.
On page 2 of the handwritten CHEARS data form (or page 3 for the typed form), there is a section labeled "Air Conduction", that provides the results for when the audiologist measured your hearing thresholds at different frequencies in each ear. The frequencies are listed in "hertz" across the top (500hz to 8000hz), which is how high pitched the tone was (higher frequency is higher pitch). For RIGHT (ear) and LEFT (ear), there is a number entered underneath each frequency. This is measured in decibels (dB) and is the softest sound that you could hear at that frequency (pitch). This is referred to as the ‘threshold’ for that frequency in that ear.
For example, if in the left ear at a frequency of 4000 hz the number "20" is written, that would mean the softest sound you could hear at that frequency was 20 decibels. This is about the loudness of a watch ticking (click here to see decibel levels of common sounds). Higher threshold numbers indicate that the tone was not heard until it was played at a louder volume.
The box marked “familiarize” in the Air Conduction section was a practice run. To ensure that you understood the directions about how and when to respond to the tone and that everything we working properly, they did a practice at 1000 hz before beginning the actual assessment and working through each frequency.
“Bone Conduction” is another method used to assess the quietest sound you could hear at each specific frequency. To do this, they placed a small vibrator behind your ear and the sound is transmitted through the bones in the skull rather than through the air. This method is used to see if there is a significant difference between these thresholds and the thresholds obtained in the Air Conduction assessment. If the difference at a specific frequency is more than 10 decibels, this raises the possibility of a middle ear problem.
As people age, it is not uncommon to lose some very high frequency hearing first and to have slightly elevated thresholds at the higher frequencies. Below is a table that provides information on degrees of hearing loss according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. For links to additional information about hearing and hearing loss, click here.