Hearing loss is measured by

• A. Frequency of sound
• B. Degree of sound heard per decibel
• C. Duration of exposure
• D. Speaker volume

Answer: (B)

Hearing loss is quantified by how soft a sound must be for you to hear it, across different pitches, and that's expressed in decibels. This threshold concept means measuring the degree or depth of loss in terms of the amount of sound intensity (in dB) required for detection. In audiology, tests determine the quietest sound you can hear at various frequencies, and those thresholds are plotted as your audiogram. That focus on the decibel level directly shows the severity of loss, rather than the pitch of the sound (frequency), how long a sound lasts (duration), or how loud the speaker is. So the measurement centers on the degree of sound heard per decibel.