CLA-5001 Module on Basic Clinical Assessments
Diagnostic Clinical Procedures
This course is designed to provide a systematic, critical and practical review of current principles, procedures, and protocols for behavioral hearing assessment of children and adults. A substantial portion of the course is devoted to pure tone audiometry with air- and bone conduction stimulation and to speech audiometry. This discussion also includes the important topic of proper masking techniques to assure ear specific test findings. Valuable but less used techniques such as the audiometric Weber test and the sensorineural acuity level (SAL) test are also covered. The final segment of the course includes lectures on effective and efficient strategies for combining procedures into an evidence-based test battery for diagnosis of peripheral hearing loss and detection of central auditory nervous system dysfunction. An important topic covered in the course is the crosscheck principle. The discussion also includes special patient populations such as children and adults with false or exaggerated hearing loss.
Electro-acoustic Measurements in Audiology
This course is designed to review principles underlying electroacoustic measurements, specifically aural immittance measures and otoacoustic emissions, and their clinical applications. The course begins with a brief historical perspective emphasizing the long-tradition of research evidence supporting clinical application of aural immittance measurements. Important terms and relevant anatomy and physiology are defined. Measurement of aural immittance procedures is then explained in the context of clinical practice guidelines including multi-component and multiple-probe tone tympanometry, Eustachian tube dysfunction tests, and acoustic reflexes. Special attention is given to the diagnostic value of analysis of acoustic reflex threshold, latency, amplitude, and patterns for ipsilateral and contralateral conditions. Wideband absorbance/reflectance is also covered with emphasis on advantages in measurement of middle ear function in children. The remainder of the course focuses on otoacoustic emissions, including current thinking on mechanisms of generators, guidelines for measurement and analysis, and clinical applications in children and adults.