Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
[Results of hearing screenings in 14- to 15-year old adolescents]
V Weichbold1, A Holzer, G Newesely
1Universitätsklinik für Hör-, Stimm- und Sprachstörungen, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Anichstr. 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Österreich. viktor.weichbold@i-med.ac.at
Background:
A hearing screening among 14- to 15-year-old pupils was performed to estimate the number of hearing-impaired individuals in the adolescent population.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 1,298 pupils from 30 schools in Tyrol (Austria) participated in the screening. Hearing tests were performed in a silent room at the school. Sinus tones at frequencies 0.5/1/2/4/6 kHz and at levels of 25/20/20/20/20 dB HL, respectively, were delivered via headphones to either ear. Failure of screening was defined as not hearing one or more frequencies in one or both ears.
Results:
The screening was failed by 16.3% of the pupils. There was a small but not significant difference between males and females (17.0 vs. 15.2%). Most of the pupils failed at only one frequency (9.6%). Failing at two or more frequencies in the same ear occurred in 3.9% of the pupils, thereof in 1.1% bilaterally.
Conclusion:
As the specificity of our screening is limited, false-positive results may result. Thus, the rate of hearing deficits in our sample is probably a bit lower than indicated by the figures above. Most of the adolescents who failed the screen failed at only one frequency. These subjects have a small elevation of their hearing threshold, not a hearing loss in the sense of a raised averaged threshold. A hearing loss in the latter sense is supposed to be present in only very few percent of adolescents, a bilateral hearing loss in perhaps less than 1%.
