Question
Is it possible to have additional furniture in an audiology testing room (with sound field), such as a cupboard? What about posters on the walls?
Answer
A purist would likely answer this question with a "no." The addition of furniture or posters to the test room environment may introduce hard and irregular surfaces which could cause negative changes to the test stimuli (i.e., changes in the acoustic properties reaching the patient's ears) during sound field testing. However, it seems to be a fairly common practice to augment the furnishings of audiometric test rooms beyond loudspeakers and a chair for the patient. This is particularly true for test rooms used primarily to test children. This is usually done to make the room more patient-friendly. So, from a practical point of view, the answer seems to be "yes." Having said that, the following steps should be undertaken when furnishings are added to or changed in an audiometric test room:
Acoustic re-calibration of sound field systems should be performed as soon as possible.
If re-calibration is not immediately possible, some type of biological calibration may temporarily suffice. The idea is to make sure that significant changes in the test environment that would cause changes in test results have not occurred.
It is important to remember that sound field audiometric testing is more variable than testing with earphones. By placing furniture in the test room or placing posters on the wall, you may be adding additional variability to test results. However, if proper calibration procedures are followed, testing accuracy should not be compromised within the limitations of sound field testing.
Robert Moore, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of South Alabama. He earned his doctorate degree from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Prior to beginning his academic career, Dr. Moore enjoyed a 25-year career in clinical audiology. His research interests include acceptable noise levels, speech perception in adverse listening conditions, and psychoacoustic aspects of musical talent.
Robert Moore, PhD
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