Typing of Békésy audiograms.

Jerger's method for classifying BEKESY AUDIOGRAMS is the most widely acccepted clinical classification system. The audiologist types the BEKESY audiogram based upon visual inspection of the relation between the continuous- and interrupted-tone tracings. To determine the extent of agreement among audiogram type, four expert judges using a forced-choice, blind procedure, independently typed 170 audiograms. Contingency coefficients were between 0.89 and 0.90 for the six sets of paired judges. Contingency coefficients between each judge and a numerical criterion classification system ranged from 0.86 to 0.94 representing the validity of the visual method. The visual method is a valid procedure for typing BEKESY AUDIOGRAMS.