Article
Progress report about the revision of the ENT medical estimate of hearing
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Published: | July 22, 2009 |
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Outline
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Within the Audiologie Initiative Niedersachsen (AIN) it is aspired to revise the medical estimate referring to the reduction in earning capacity based on the hearing loss level. The currently used guideline to determine the hearing loss followed by the reduction in earning capacity, is the Königsteiner Merkblatt (l995) [Ref. 1], which bases on the long lasting experience of medical and audio logical groups in silence.
However, the existence of new audio logical methods allows a more differentiated identification of hearing loss. Especially a measurement in noise should by included in the determination procedure, because it can better reflect the constraint of a patient with marginal hearing loss and the reduction of communication ability in noise.This has to be evaluated with a measurement in noise.
In the AIN the Göttinger sentence test in noise is used to determine the communication loss
The signal noise ratio, which is reached at a fifty percent speech understanding (L50), is converted into a percental communication loss. At the moment different tabular are developed regarding a large number of measurements.
Furthermore the communication loss has do be combined with the hearing loss in silence and has to be integrated in the current calculation of the entitlement to a pension. Possibly a separated regarding of the low, moderate and high hearing loss is necessary.
After the validation of the new determination methods a workshop is planed to present it to the committee concerned.
References
- 1.
- Königsteiner Merkblatt. Empfehlungen des Hauptverbandes der gewerblichen Berufsgenossenschaften für die Begutachtung der beruflichen Lärmschwerhörigkeit. 4. Aufl. St. Augustin; 1996