Smartphone-Facilitated In-Situ Hearing Aid Audiometry for Community-Based Hearing Testing.
Caitlin Frisby, Karina C De Sousa, Robert H Eikelboom and 5 others
PMID 38424667WHAT IT FOUND
Smartphone hearing tests using hearing aids and noise-blocking earcups matched clinical results for most people, even in homes and community centres.
This suggests community workers can help with hearing checks and aid setup, reducing the need for expensive sound booths and clinic visits.
Key findings
01In-situ hearing thresholds obtained via smartphone and hearing aids in a clinical setting were within 10 dB of standard clinical tests for 85.2% of measurements, despite some statistical differences at specific frequencies.
02In community settings, hearing tests facilitated by community health workers showed high agreement with standard mobile audiometry, with 83.3% of thresholds differing by 10 dB or less.
03Circumaural earcups placed over hearing aids allowed for valid testing in noisy environments, with maximum permissible ambient noise levels ranging from 24 to 47.3 dB SPL across frequencies.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Ambient noise was not monitored in real-time for every participant, only in a subsample, so some tests may have occurred in conditions exceeding the calculated noise limits. Participants did not place the hearing aids or earcups themselves; researchers or community workers did, so the accuracy of fully self-administered testing is not yet proven. The study did not include children, so its applicability to paediatric populations is unknown. The education level of participants was not recorded, which might affect the ability to self-administer the test or understand instructions. There were significant statistical differences between in-situ and clinical thresholds at several frequencies, although the majority of individual thresholds were within the acceptable 10 dB range.
Declared interests
Several authors are affiliated with the hearX Group (manufacturer) or hearX Foundation (NGO partner). One author is the director of the hearX Foundation, and others are founders, scientific advisors, or consultants for the hearX Group.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this method is ready for fully unsupervised self-testing by patients. The study participants had their hearing aids and earcups placed by professionals or trained community workers. The accuracy of the test when a patient places the devices themselves has not been validated in this paper.