Overview
EN ISO 7029:2017 - "Acoustics: Statistical distribution of hearing thresholds related to age and gender" provides descriptive statistics of hearing-threshold deviations for populations of otologically normal persons. It defines the expected median hearing-threshold change (relative to 18-year-olds) and the statistical distribution above and below the median for monaural earphone audiometry. The third edition (2017) updates source data, improves estimation methods and extends calculable age ranges.
Key topics
- Age range: 18 years to 80 years (extended from previous editions).
- Audiometric frequencies: 125 Hz to 8 000 Hz (primary); 3 000–8 000 Hz values for ages above 70 presented for information only.
- High-frequency information: Informative median values at 9 000 Hz to 12 500 Hz for ages 22–80 years.
- Statistical outputs:
- Expected median hearing-threshold deviation relative to the 18-year-old median.
- Statistical distribution (dispersion) around the median - enabling percentile-based comparisons.
- Measurement condition: Monaural earphone listening (pure-tone audiometry).
- Definitions: Clear definitions such as “otologically normal person” and “hearing threshold deviation” are provided.
- Data use guidance: Notes on application limits, accuracy improvements from earlier editions, and how to interpret distributions for populations and individuals.
Practical applications
- Estimating age-related components of hearing loss in epidemiology and clinical studies.
- Supporting occupational health and hearing-conservation programs to separate expected age effects from noise-induced hearing loss or other agents.
- Benchmarking individual audiograms against age- and gender-specific population distributions to aid clinical interpretation.
- Informing standards, regulations and compensation assessments where age-related hearing sensitivity is a factor.
- Supplying reference data for researchers, audiometer manufacturers and acoustic consultants.
Who uses this standard
- Audiologists and clinical otologists
- Occupational health professionals and industrial hygienists
- Researchers in auditory epidemiology and public health
- Hearing-conservation program managers and policy makers
- Forensic experts and medico-legal consultants
- Standards developers and test-equipment manufacturers
Related standards
- ISO 1999 (noise-induced hearing loss assessment; references "Database A")
- ISO 389 series (reference hearing threshold levels)
- ISO 8253-1 (audiometric test methods)
- ISO 28961 and IEC 60645-1 (related statistical and equipment guidance)
EN ISO 7029:2017 is essential when you need standardized, statistically robust reference data on age- and gender-related hearing thresholds for audiometry, occupational assessments, research and regulatory use.