The reliability of hearing test application in smartphone to evaluate for hearing screening in Ranong hospital
Keywords:
smartphone, audiometry, audiogram, hearingAbstract
BACKGROUND : According to the World Health Organization(WHO) 360 million people have disabling hearing loss throughout the world. One-third of the individuals over 65 years of age have hearing impairment. If people are aware of their hearing loss, the progression of the hearing loss can be prevented. Therefore early hearing screening and initial treatment could significantly improve and individual’s quality of life.
OBJECTIVE : 1.To determine the hearing levels of participants of a randomized group using an Apple iOS-based automated hearing test application and the results from conventional audiogram
2.To
determine its accuracy of an Apple iOS-based automated hearing test application with conventional audiometry
STUDY DESIGN : Prospective cross-sectional study
SETTING : outpatient, department of Otolaryngology,Ranong hospital between October 2017 and December 2017.
METERIALS AND METHODS : A heterogenous group 110 people consisting of both normal hearing and hearing impaired participants were included in this study. Pure tone audiogram thresholds were measured from 500 Hz to 6000 Hz, while smartphone measurement were obtained with an Apple iOS-base automated hearing test application “uHear”. We compared these results with those obtained from pure tone audiogram.
RESULTS : validity analysis indicated that the results for each ear and each frequency were excellent (interclass correlation coefficient>0.7). We assessed the mean difference between the pure tone audiogram and the smartphone hearing test results and found the absolute difference to be less than 9.68 dB.
CONCLUSION : Smartphone hearing test applications are providing alternative tests that present low-cost solutions. Using the hearing application test may decrease the demand for audiological services in underserved areas. The study suggests that smartphone hearing test results are comparable to pure tone audiometry results.
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