Communication Evaluation

The hearing evaluation, or hearing test, is the foundation upon which a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s hearing profile is compiled.

Our communication evaluation emphasizes solutions based on a patient’s lifestyle and unique communication needs.

Going beyond the standard tone-based hearing evaluation, both objective tests such as speech-in-noise (SIN) and Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) and self-assessment measures such as the Characteristics of Amplification Tool (COAT), Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB), Expected Consequences of Hearing Aid Ownership (ECHO), and Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) are utilized to evaluate a patient’s communication difficulties and set communication goals.

A goal can be thought of as what the patient will want to be able to do after the hearing aid fitting and aural rehabilitation that she cannot do now as a result of her hearing impairment.

These goals will drive decisions concerning hearing aid style, technology level, and features.  They will also determine how successful the treatment plan was in resolving the patient’s primary communication difficulties.