Degrees of Hearing Loss

Degree of Hearing Loss	Hearing Threshold(in decibels, dB)	Ability to Hear Speech
None	0-25 dB	Little or no perceptible difficulty.
Mild	26-40 dB	Difficulty hearing soft speech and conversations, but can understand in quiet environments.
Moderate	41-55 dB	Difficulty 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 must be loud and possible difficulty in group conversations.
Severe	71-90 dB	Normal speech is inaudible. Either difficulty with loud speech or comprehension only through shouted or amplified speech.
Profound	91+ dB	Even amplified speech is unclear.