In this retrospective study, records of veterans who had audiological compensation and pension examinations (hearing evaluations) at the Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) in Jackson, Mississippi between 1992 and 2001 are being reviewed. Audiologists are often called upon to decide whether a given word recognition score is in line with what is expected from a patient with a given degree of hearing loss. Comparison of actual scores with expected or predicted scores has diagnostic and rehabilitative implications as well as information for judging the validity of the obtained score and the accompanying pure tone thresholds. However, there is currently no objective and quantitative methodology in widespread use for evaluating word recognition scores. The purpose of this study is to establish an objective method to assist the audiologist in assessing the word recognition score obtained as part of a hearing evaluation. This is being done by reviewing clinical records from the VAMC and establishing confidence limits for representative scores.  It is hoped that by using these methods the accuracy and validity of word recognition scores obtained from previous evaluations can be established.

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