II. Indication
- Triage nurse evaluation for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHNL) within last 72 hours
III. Technique
- Patient occludes one ear at a time with a finger
- Patient hums and detects in which ear they hear the sound
IV. Interpretation
- Hum Test lateralizes to the good ear suggests Sensorineural Hearing Loss
- Requires immediate evaluation for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHNL)
- Hum Test lateralizes to the bad ear suggests Conductive Hearing Loss
- Routine evaluation is appropriate
