At least 10% of people who present for help with hearing difficulties will be 
found to have normal hearing thresholds. These cases are clinically categorized 
as King-Kopetzky syndrome (KKS), obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD), or auditory 
processing disorder (APD). While recent research has focussed on the possible 
mechanistic basis for these difficulties, the perceptions of the hearing 
difficulties that lead people to seek help have not hitherto been identified. 
This study presents findings from an observational survey of causal attributions 
of hearing difficulties from 100 people with KKS. The findings suggest that 
participants regard immunity and risk related causes of hearing difficulties as 
pre-dominant. Psychological factors were not considered to be causal for hearing 
difficulties. These factors were not affected by diagnostic classification. 
These findings inform audiologists about their patient beliefs for the first 
time. The authors suggest that clinicians take care to ensure that their 
counselling is responsive to these beliefs.