Moderate Presbycusis
Moderate age-related loss affecting the mid and high frequencies. Conversation takes more effort than it used to, following people in noisy places is genuinely difficult, and the TV volume tends to creep up over time. About one in three people in the U.S. between 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those over 75 have trouble hearing.
Summary
- Severity
- Moderate44 dB HL
- Most loss at
- 8 kHz · 75 dB
Degree of the worse ear, averaged over all eight frequencies, on the scale used by U.S. audiologists (ASHA)
Pure-tone average (PTA)
- Left ear
- 27dB
- Mild
- Right ear
- 27dB
- Mild
What’s a pure-tone average?
Pure-tone average is the quietest tone each ear can just hear, averaged across three pitches central to speech (500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 2 kHz). It’s the single number U.S. audiologists use to sum up an audiogram. 15 dB or lower is normal hearing, and every 10 dB higher means sounds need to be about twice as loud to be heard. Internationally, the World Health Organization averages four pitches, adding 4 kHz, so where high pitches have more loss its number comes out higher.
Thresholds by frequency
| Hz | L | R |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 5 | 5 |
| 500 | 15 | 15 |
| 1k | 25 | 25 |
| 2k | 40 | 40 |
| 3k | 55 | 55 |
| 4k | 65 | 65 |
| 6k | 70 | 70 |
| 8k | 75 | 75 |