Correlation between the maximum speech discrimination score on speech audiometry and the pure-tone threshold

Abstract

The maximum speech discrimination score (SDSmax) on speech audiometry decreases with the progression of a hearing disturbance. However, no criteria have yet been established that can determine the SDSmax from the pure-tone threshold. This study analyzed the correlation between the threshold from pure tone audiometry and the SDSmax from speech audiometry in 604 ears. There was a clear correlation between the pure-tone threshold and SDSmax. The SDSmax was better than that from the pure-tone threshold in conductive hearing loss. The SDSmax was obviously worse than that from the pure-tone threshold in acoustic tumors (retrocochlear hearing loss), especially in patients with a moderate or severe hearing disturbance. There were no differences in the gradient of the speech audiogram curve between ears with normal hearing, conductive hearing loss, cochlear hearing loss and retrocochlear hearing loss. The positive rate of rollover was 60.6% and 56.6% in cochlear hearing loss and retrocochlear hearing loss, respectively.