VA Hearing Loss Claims: The Audiology Table and Why Most Get 0%

Hearing loss is one of the most service-connected and yet most under-rated conditions in the VA system. The vast majority of veterans granted service connection for hearing loss receive a 0% rating. That sounds like a denial, but it's not — and the 0% rating opens doors that veterans often miss.

How VA rates hearing loss

Hearing loss is rated under DC 6100 in 38 C.F.R. § 4.85. The rating is mechanical: two audiometric inputs go in, a rating comes out via tables.

Inputs:

• Puretone Threshold Average for each ear — the average decibel level at which you first hear tones at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz.
• Speech discrimination for each ear — measured with the Maryland CNC (Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant) word recognition test, reported as a percentage.

Each ear gets a Roman numeral (I through XI) on Table VI based on the combination of puretone average and CNC percentage. Then Table VII maps the two Roman numerals (better ear, worse ear) to a percentage rating.

Why most veterans get 0%

VA's rating tables were calibrated against a specific theory of hearing-loss disability: you have to hear so poorly that even loud speech is hard to understand. Most veterans with documented high-frequency noise-induced hearing loss have measurable loss in the 3000-4000 Hz range but still score well on the speech discrimination test in a quiet booth.

The result is that two veterans with the same real-world disability — one who hears poorly in restaurants, the other in similar settings — can get different ratings based on a controlled test environment that doesn't reflect daily life.

The exception is 38 C.F.R. § 4.86, "Exceptional patterns of hearing impairment." If your puretone threshold at each of 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz is 55 dB or more (and similar for other defined patterns), VA uses Table VIA instead of Table VI, which sometimes yields a higher rating without the CNC penalty.

Why a 0% rating still matters

Even at 0%, a granted hearing-loss claim:

• Establishes service connection. Future worsening can be claimed with an increase-rating filing; you don't have to re-prove the original nexus.
• Anchors tinnitus claims. Tinnitus secondary to hearing loss is one of the easier connections to establish.
• Unlocks hearing aids through VA. Service-connected hearing loss entitles you to hearing aids, batteries, and fitting through VA at no cost (38 C.F.R. § 17.149).
• Counts toward total disability calculations in some indirect ways (e.g., extraschedular and TDIU evidence).

The C&P exam: what gets measured

The Hearing Loss DBQ uses a state-licensed audiologist. The exam includes:

• Air conduction puretone testing at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz, ear by ear.
• Maryland CNC speech discrimination, scored 0-100%, ear by ear, in a quiet booth.
• Tympanometry and otoscopy to confirm the loss is sensorineural rather than conductive (a conductive loss often points to treatable middle-ear issues, not permanent hearing loss).

Service connection — what evidence wins

Hearing loss is presumed service-connected if it manifests to a compensable degree within one year of separation (38 C.F.R. § 3.307, 38 C.F.R. § 3.309). Even outside that window, the case rests on:

• Documented noise exposure in service. MOS code (artillery, infantry, aviation, motor pool, indirect fire) is conceded high-probability exposure.
• Audiogram threshold shift between enlistment and separation, if available in service treatment records.
• Lay description of decline since service. Even a single in-service incident (firefight, mortar attack, ear pain after artillery) can support the nexus.
• Private audiology report diagnosing sensorineural high-frequency loss consistent with noise exposure.

The most common adverse C&P finding is "normal hearing for VA purposes" — meaning you don't meet the threshold in 38 C.F.R. § 3.385 that defines disability hearing loss for VA. You can still have service-connected tinnitus and a private audiology report on file for future increase claims.