• DOI:10.3109/03005369209077869
• Corpus ID: 28194480

A clinical test battery for obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD): development, selection and use of tests.

@article{Saunders1992ACT,
  title={A clinical test battery for obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD): development, selection and use of tests.},
  author={Gabrielle H. Saunders and D L Field and Mark P. Haggard},
  journal={British journal of audiology},
  year={1992},
  volume={26 1},
  pages={
          33-42
        }
}

• G. Saunders, D. Field, M. Haggard
• Published 1992
• Psychology, Medicine
• British journal of audiology

Obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD) is defined as convincing self-report of auditory disability accompanied by normal pure-tone thresholds. This has been increasingly recognized as a clinical problem, but until now there has not been a standard clinical procedure for dealing with such patients. This paper summarizes a demographic and clinical characterization of a sample of 50 OAD patients, reports new norms on the tests in the version issued, and describes a test package developed from a case-control research study that can be routinely used with OAD patients. The package enables clinicians: (i) to confirm, or otherwise, OAD as the appropriate classification for individuals presenting with OAD-like symptoms; (ii) to elucidate the underlying basis of OAD in such individuals and hence in most cases to provide explanations that are justified by test findings; and (iii) to counsel cases in a fashion appropriate for each individual. The package consists of four performance tests, a specialized clinical interview and a brief questionnaire to determine the severity of OAD. The assessment takes approximately 37 min and can be run using a two-channel audiometer and a cassette recorder.