Deafness in general practice measured by a screening audiometer.

OF THE many diagnostic instruments now available to the practitioner none is so satisfactory to use as the audiometer. Antibiotics and the affluent society may be responsible for the virtual disappearance of acute mastoiditis in children as seen by the general practitioner in south-east England, but deafness is still common in adolescents. A child who has apparently recovered from acute otitis media may still be deafand not realize it. Removing debris from the external auditory meatus in children can be time consuming, and inspection of the tympanic membrane may not be complete. Testing for deafness in the surgery by whispering can be inaccurate and if a watch is used low frequency deafness might be missed. The opinion of a mother who thinks her child is deaf is of the greatest importance. However, mothers can sometimes be wrong: