Modern Audiology for Primary Care Physicians. I: Adults

Course Description

How does an audiologist evaluate hearing in an adult patient? This course provides a concise and practical review of current techniques used by audiologists for hearing assessment of older children and adults. The lecture begins with a brief historical overview of the profession of audiology, with an emphasis on assessment and management of hearing loss in adults. Commonly encountered etiologies for adult hearing loss, such as noise-induced and age-related auditory dysfunction, are reviewed. Then, the clinical procedures employed in the diagnostic hearing assessment of adults are explained. Typical patterns of auditory findings for a test battery of auditory procedures are associated with etiologies underlying common causes of adult hearing loss. The lecture concludes with information on how to screen for hearing loss in a physician’s office, including codes used to bill for the procedures.

This introductory course accompanied by a similar course on pediatric hearing assessment (Modern Audiology for Primary Care Physicians. II: Introduction to Hearing Assessment of Children).

The course is also is supplemented by other AIBEF courses, included those on the principles of diagnostic audiometry, non-organic hearing loss (and malingering), diagnosis of retrocochlear auditory dysfunction, electrocochleography and Meniere’s disease, and tinnitus.

Learning Objectives:

• List procedures used for hearing assessment of adults
• Describe typical auditory findings in common etiologies for adult hearing loss
• Explain the economic, psychosocial, and health impact of hearing loss in adults

*This course does not include a certification exam