Ryan Rourke 1 , David Chan Chun Kong 2 , Matthew Bromwich 3 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Access to hearing health care is limited in many parts of the world, creating a lack of prompt diagnosis, which further complicates treatment. The use of portable audiometry for hearing loss testing can improve access to diagnostics in marginalized populations. Our study objectives were twofold: (1) to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in children aged 4 to 11 years in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and (2) to test and demonstrate the use of our tablet audiometer as a portable hearing-testing device in a remote location. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional observational. SETTING: Remote elementary schools in 3 Canadian Northern communities. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Tablet audiometers were used to test hearing in 218 children. Air conduction pure tones thresholds were obtained at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Children with hearing loss ≥30 dB in either ear were referred for audiology services. RESULTS: Tablet audiometry screening testing revealed abnormal results in 14.8% of the study participants. No significant difference in the rate of hearing loss was seen by sex; however, the rate of hearing loss decreased significantly with increasing age. The median duration of the hearing test was 5 minutes 30 seconds. CONCLUSIONS: Of the study population, 14.8% tested positive for hearing loss based on our interactive tablet audiometer. In this setting, the tablet audiometer was both time efficient and largely language independent. This type of testing is valuable for providing much-needed hearing health care for high-risk populations in rural and remote areas where audiology services are often unavailable. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.
BACKGROUND: Access to hearing health care is limited in many parts of the world, creating a lack of prompt diagnosis, which further complicates treatment. The use of portable audiometry for hearing loss testing can improve access to diagnostics in marginalized populations. Our study objectives were twofold: (1) to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in children aged 4 to 11 years in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and (2) to test and demonstrate the use of our tablet audiometer as a portable hearing-testing device in a remote location. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional observational. SETTING: Remote elementary schools in 3 Canadian Northern communities. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Tablet audiometers were used to test hearing in 218 children . Air conduction pure tones thresholds were obtained at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Children with hearing loss ≥30 dB in either ear were referred for audiology services. RESULTS: Tablet audiometry screening testing revealed abnormal results in 14.8% of the study participants . No significant difference in the rate of hearing loss was seen by sex; however, the rate of hearing loss decreased significantly with increasing age. The median duration of the hearing test was 5 minutes 30 seconds. CONCLUSIONS: Of the study population, 14.8% tested positive for hearing loss based on our interactive tablet audiometer. In this setting, the tablet audiometer was both time efficient and largely language independent. This type of testing is valuable for providing much-needed hearing health care for high-risk populations in rural and remote areas where audiology services are often unavailable. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.
Entities: Disease
Species
Keywords:
ShoeBOX audiometry; digital health; hearing loss; hearing test; hearing testing; mHealth; population based; portable audiometer; prevalence; remote; rural; screening audiometry; tablet audiometry
Mesh： See more »
Year: 2016
PMID： 27118819 DOI： 10.1177/0194599816644407
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg ISSN： 0194-5998 Impact factor: 3.497