If you’ve been in clinic for more than a short time, you’ve seen a similar patient.  The patient writes “my wife thinks I have a hearing problem” on the case history form where it asks the reason for the visit.  Medical history is typical for someone age 71:  high blood pressure, diabetes, no stroke, no heart attacks, no cancer, no other serious illnesses.  He denies tinnitus, dizziness, and aural fullness.

In the case history interview the audiologist asks the open ended “I see that you are here because your wife thinks you have a problem with your hearing . . . ” and the patient volunteers that he doesn’t think his hearing is bad at all, but he does wish people spoke as clearly as they once did – “so many people tend to mumble these days.”

His answers on the hearing handicap inventory for the elderly have several “sometimes” answers.

The patient hadn’t heard his name called in the busy waiting room on first try, has said “huh” a time or two during the interview, and misunderstood one question even in the quiet patient interview area.  You predict bilateral sloping sensorineural loss, sufficient to warrant amplification.

• Outline your strategies for structuring the interview and for presenting the findings in a manner that is most likely to help move the patient towards acceptance of his problems.