Which procedure is recommended if there is a significant difference in thresholds during testing?

Introducing more masking is the recommended procedure when there is a significant difference in thresholds during testing. This is important because a significant difference in thresholds suggests that there may be cross-hearing occurring, where the sound presented to one ear is heard by the other ear, potentially leading to inaccurate results.

By introducing more masking, you can help ensure that the ear being tested is the only ear receiving the sound stimulus. This approach minimizes the possibility of cross-hearing impacting the thresholds being measured. It allows for a more accurate assessment of an individual's hearing abilities, particularly in cases where one ear has significantly better or poorer hearing than the other.

In contrast, simply repeating the test without masking may not resolve the issue of cross-hearing and could yield inconsistent results. Discontinuing the test wouldn’t provide any useful data regarding the patient’s hearing status, and changing the measurement approach might not specifically address the problems related to the differences in thresholds due to potential cross-hearing. Thus, using more masking directly addresses the concern and improves the accuracy of the audiometric assessment.