§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the effect of a 50 decibel loss on ability to hear ordinary conversation. [HL2555]
§ Baroness HaymanA 50 decibel hearing loss is described in audiology as a "moderate" hearing loss—this term is part of a descriptive technical scale from "mild" to "profound". Observations of children indicate this level of loss is a significant handicap. They will understand conversation at a distance of 1 metre to 2 metres but will have difficulty in group discussion. Adults who have become hearing impaired with age may not show as much difficulty with familiar language, conversations and voices. However, these adults and children will be suitable candidates for hearing aids.
§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
On what medical evidence they rely in assessing the effects of a 50 decibel hearing loss. [HL2556]
§ Baroness HaymanOften the measurement of hearing loss takes a patient straight to hearing aid fitting where the hearing ability is again assessed or a trial is made of the hearing aid. Prior to the measurement of hearing loss, the individual would have had an investigation of his or her medical condition. Patient auditory, health and injury records are vital to assessment. The auditory departments can provide an individual with a standard battery of tests. These include tests to determine hearing loss, speech discrimination and word identification. Tympanometry will assess middle ear function. In this way further diagnosis of the impairment can be made and remedial action or rehabilitation undertaken.