Fact · Speech recognition
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says the primary clinical purpose of a speech threshold is to serve as a validity check for the pure tone audiogram.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“Clinically, the primary purpose of a speech threshold is to serve as a validity check for the pure tone audiogram”
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 pure tone audiogram plots the faintest beeps a person can hear at set pitches. The speech threshold is measured with words, and the two should roughly agree in a reliable test.
- What it does not show
- The guideline makes this a clinical purpose, not a diagnostic one. It does not say that the speech threshold can replace the pure-tone test.