Stenger screening in automated diagnostic hearing test

A system for conducting Stenger screening of a patient, comprising:

• transducers, including an air conduction transducer and a bone conduction transducer;
• a hearing test device connected to the transducers;
• a computer connected to the hearing test device and storing an automated hearing test thereon, the automated hearing test configured to cause the computer to:
• perform a pure tone frequency threshold test on the patient, wherein data obtained during one iteration of the test may be used in subsequent iterations of the test;
• check whether the patient warrants Stenger screening based on the pure tone frequency threshold test;
• administer a predetermined number of Stenger tests to the patient if it is determined that the patient warrants Stenger screening;
• and
• determine whether the patient passes or fails the Stenger screening based on a number of positive Stengers produced by the patient.

A computer-based, multimedia method for conducting Stenger screening of a patient, comprising:

• checking whether a difference in pure tone frequency air conduction thresholds for the patient's ears exceeds a preset limit for a given pure tone frequency;
• presenting a pure tone frequency in a good ear of the patient at an intensity level that is higher than that ear's pure tone threshold by a predetermined amount and simultaneously presenting the pure tone frequency in a poor ear of the patient at an intensity level that is lower than that ear's pure tone threshold by a predetermined amount if the difference is greater than a preset difference limit;
• and
• determining whether the patient passes or fails the Stenger screening, wherein the patient fails the Stenger screening if a number of positive Stengers is the same as or greater than a number of negative Stengers.