Synonym: pseudoacusis
Clinical features:
(1) sudden hearing loss
(2) depressed auditory thresholds
(3) inconsistencies in audiological testing
(4) absence of an organic cause found after a complete evaluation
(5) reversal with a behavioral intervention
Holenweg and Kompis (2010) noted that a small air-bone gap (5-20 dB) was typical for non-organic hearing loss.
Risk factors:
(1) sudden psychological trauma or stress (conversion disorder)
(2) underlying psychiatric disorder
Barriers to diagnosis:
(1) failure to consider diagnosis
(2) presence of a concurrent ear disorder
(3) failure to perform appropriate testing (otoacoustic emissions testing, speech audiometry, auditory-evoked potentials)
(4) failure to recognize inconsistencies in audiological testing
(5) patient's skill at malingering (pediatric patients are usually less practiced than adults)
(6) failure to recognize motivation
