Fact · Speech recognition
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says that for most clinical cases the speech recognition threshold agrees well with the three-frequency pure tone average, but with a sloping loss it may agree better with the two-frequency average.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“in cases with a sloping loss agreement may be better between the speech recognition threshold and the two-frequency pure tone average”
Determining Threshold Level for Speech (ASHA Guidelines, 1988), American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1988, Background.
Open the original- What it measures
- A sloping loss is one where hearing is worse at high pitches than at low ones. The three-frequency average uses the 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz thresholds, and the two-frequency average uses the two that give the best sensitivity.
- What it does not show
- The guideline cites a 1950 paper for this point. A clinician chooses which average to compare against, so the choice should be recorded.