What is the pediatric hearing screening threshold in decibels?

• A. 20 dB
• B. 25 dB
• C. 15 dB
• D. 30 dB

Answer: (A)

In pediatric hearing screening, the goal is to catch potential hearing problems early with a quick, reliable check. The threshold used is 20 dB HL because it sits just above typical environmental noise in clinics and schools while being low enough to detect mild losses that could affect language development. By testing at speech-relevant frequencies (1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz), a child who doesn’t respond to a 20 dB tone in either ear should be referred for a full audiologic evaluation. If the threshold were higher, mild losses could be missed; if it were lower, there would be more false positives from testing conditions. Therefore, 20 dB HL is the standard screening level.