Hearing-loss severity categories lead patients to underestimate their communication difficulties

Evidence

A common way to quantify the degree (or severity) of hearing loss is to categorize absolute thresholds based on ranges of dB HL, a practice first proposed by Goodman (1965) with more modern criteria provided by Clark (1981) and shown in Table 2–2. These terms are appropriate for use in describing thresholds among clinicians, but they have been demonstrated to provide little value, and can even be detrimental, in conveying the severity of communication difficulties to both patients and their families. In many cases, particularly in reference to children, these terms lead patients to underestimate the severity of their hearing loss (Haggard & Primus, 1999). — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 282

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels findings elsewhere that categorical labels (IQ bands, risk categories) mislead laypeople about real-world severity.