[Comparative speech audiometry studies with compact disk]

We compared the results of speech audiometry, performed with recorded tape and CD, respectively, in 21 subjects with bone conduction hearing loss, and in 27 subjects with sensorineural hearing loss. In all cases, speech audiometry was performed by using the German Freiburg speech test material, recorded in 1969 on the basis of the German DIN standard 45626. In subjects with an air-bone gap, the hearing loss for speech is 2.3 dB smaller if tested by use of CD, and the speech recognition is 10.5 points better, respectively. Smaller differences could be found in sensorineural HL: For CD, the hearing loss is 1.2 dB smaller, and the speech recognition score is raised by only 1 point. These differences are statistically not significant, and the calculation of hearing impairment and individual hearing handicap from the tables commonly used in Germany in medicolegal expert opinions must not be corrected, if records on CD are used basing on the recordings from 1969 according to DIN 45626. The handling of compact discs has many advantages in relation to the handling of tapes.