Question
Is a trough-shaped audiogram the same as a cookie bite audiogram?
Answer
Yes it is. In audiology, we sometimes use different terms to refer to the same phenomena. Another example is the term “ski slope” hearing loss, which we may also refer to as “precipitously falling” or “abruptly falling”.
This is just my own personal preference, but if I were writing a report, I probably would not describe an audiogram as a “ski slope” or “cookie bite”. I might describe a cookie bite audiogram as “trough-shaped” or “U-shaped” or an “inverted U-shaped” in a report. It is different when we are speaking to colleagues and discussing a case, where we are all familiar with the term “cookie bite”, or “ski slope” but I would not use those terms in a professional report. That is where I would make the delineation.
Editor’s note: This Ask the Expert was taken from the recorded course, Pure Tone Testing and Audiogram Interpretation presented by Dr. L. Maureen Valente. To view the course in its entirety, please register here.
