Is there such a thing as 20/20 vision but for hearing?

Yes…but it is a very old and outdated way to measure hearing!

The EENT (Eye, ear, nose, and throat) medical specialty began to evolve over 100 years ago. At that time, both hearing and vision were recorded using the same 20/x notation system. The eye chart was placed at 20 feet from the patient for reading progressively smaller letters. A "clicker" was then used to check how soft a sound could be heard at that same distance. So you might have 20/40 vision and 20/60 hearing!

It became clear this system was not ideal, especially for testing hearing difficulties. ENT doctors found that hearing was complex enough to require a non-medical sub-specialty now called Audiology. They found the pitch of a sound was a crucial aspect of hearing which the 20/x system did not address. Nowadays, hearing evaluation involves sounds of varying frequency (pitch) and volume. These are then measured and graphed over the range of normal hearing.

Vision, however, continued to be measured at a simulated 20 foot distance using non-standardized background contrast. [Ophthalmology had meanwhile split off into its own medical specialty.] While low and varying contrast letter charts are now utilized in most research studies, this is not typical in clinical Optometry or Optometry practices. Still, contrast sensitivity is a very important aspect of vision not being routinely measured, even today. And contrast sensitivity in vision corresponds to frequency in hearing!

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic