ISO 7029 is an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard titled 'Statistical distribution of hearing thresholds related to age and gender.'

This standard provides formulas for calculating the median and statistical distribution of age-related hearing threshold shifts in otologically normal persons (*1). The hearing threshold shift can be calculated separately for males and females, for frequencies ranging from 125 Hz to 12,500 Hz, and for ages between 18 and 80 years.

In essence, this standard defines the reference (normal) values of hearing thresholds. These values serve as criteria for determining normal or impaired hearing in pure-tone air-conduction audiometry and are also used for applications such as estimating noise-induced hearing loss (*2).

*1 Otologically normal persons: persons in a normal state of health who is free from all signs or symptoms of ear disease and from obstructing wax in the ear canal and who has no history of undue exposure to noise, exposure to potentially ototoxic substances or familial hearing loss.
*2 ISO 1999: Acoustics — Estimation of noise-induced hearing loss

[Last update: 08 Nov. 2025]