Degrees of hearing loss
Different levels of hearing loss are referred to as degrees, depending on the severity of impairment.
| Degrees of hearing loss | Hearing threshold (in decibels, dB) | Ability to hear speech |
| None | 0 – 25 dB | No perceptible difficulty. |
| Mild | 26 – 40 dB | Difficulty hearing soft speech and conversations, especially in noisier or more reverberant situations, but can understand in quiet environments. |
| Moderate | 41 – 55 dB | Difficulties understanding speech, especially in the presence of background noise. Higher volume levels are needed for hearing TV or radio. |
| Moderate to severe | 56 – 70 dB | Clarity of speech is considerably affected. Speech has to be louder as usual, difficulties in group conversations will occur. |
| Severe | 71 – 90 dB | Regular speech is inaudible. Difficulties even with loud speech. Comprehension often only possible through shouting or amplification. |
| Profound | 91+ dB | Even amplified speech is difficult to understand or even inaudible. |
