Tablet-Based Hearing Screening Test

Diagnostic Accuracy of Mobile Health-Based Audiometry for the Screening of Hearing Loss in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic health conditions. Traditional pure tone audiometry (PTA) is the gold standard for hearing loss screening, but is not widely available outside specialized clinical centers. Mobile health (mHealth)-based audiometry could improve access and cost-effectiveness, but its diagnostic accuracy varies widely between studies. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of mHealth-based audiometry for hearing loss screening in adults compared with traditional PTA. Methods: Ten English and Chinese databases were searched from inception until April 30, 2022. Two researchers independently selected studies, extracted data, and appraised methodological quality. The bivariate random-effects model was adopted to estimate the pooled sensitivity and specificity for each common threshold (i.e., the threshold to define mild or moderate hearing loss). The hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic model was used to assess the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) across all thresholds. Results: Twenty cohort studies were included. Only one study (n = 109) used the mHealth-based speech recognition test (SRT) as the index test. Nineteen studies (n = 1,656) used mHealth-based PTA as the index test, and all of them were included in the meta-analysis. For detecting mild hearing loss, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80-0.96) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.82-0.94), respectively. For detecting moderate hearing loss, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.94 (95% CI 0.87-0.98) and 0.87 (95% CI 0.79-0.93), respectively. For all PTA thresholds, the AUC was 0.96 (95% CI 0.40-1.00). Conclusions: mHealth-based audiometry provided good diagnostic accuracy for screening both mild and moderate hearing loss in adults. Given its high diagnostic accuracy, accessibility, convenience, and cost-effectiveness, it shows enormous potential for hearing loss screening, particularly in primary care sites, low-income regions, and settings with in-person visit limitations. Further work should evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the mHealth-based SRT tests.

Efficacy of the Digit-in-Noise Test: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives

Although the digit-in-noise (DIN) test is simple and quick, little is known about its key factors. This study explored the considerable components of the DIN test through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Materials and Methods

After six electronic journal databases were screened, 14 studies were selected. For the meta-analysis, standardized mean difference was used to calculate effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals.

Results

The overall result of the meta-analysis showed an effect size of 2.224. In a subgroup analysis, the patient’s hearing status was found to have the highest effect size, meaning that the DIN test was significantly sensitive to screen for hearing loss. In terms of the length of the presenting digits, triple digits had lower speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) than single or pairs of digits. Among the types of background noise, speech-spectrum noise provided lower SRTs than multi-talker babbling. Regarding language variance, the DIN test showed better performance in the patient’s native language(s) than in other languages.

Conclusions

When uniformly developed and well validated, the DIN test can be a universal tool for hearing screening.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Smartphone-Based Audiometry for Hearing Loss Detection: Meta-analysis

Background

Hearing loss is one of the most common disabilities worldwide and affects both individual and public health. Pure tone audiometry (PTA) is the gold standard for hearing assessment, but it is often not available in many settings, given its high cost and demand for human resources. Smartphone-based audiometry may be equally effective and can improve access to adequate hearing evaluations.

Objective

The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize the current evidence of the role of smartphone-based audiometry in hearing assessments and further explore the factors that influence its diagnostic accuracy.

Methods

Five databases—PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus—were queried to identify original studies that examined the diagnostic accuracy of hearing loss measurement using smartphone-based devices with conventional PTA as a reference test. A bivariate random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled sensitivity and specificity. The factors associated with diagnostic accuracy were identified using a bivariate meta-regression model. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool.

Results

In all, 25 studies with a total of 4470 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for smartphone-based audiometry were 89% (95% CI 83%-93%), 93% (95% CI 87%-97%), and 0.96 (95% CI 0.93-0.97), respectively; the corresponding values for the smartphone-based speech recognition test were 91% (95% CI 86%-94%), 88% (95% CI 75%-94%), and 0.93 (95% CI 0.90-0.95), respectively. Meta-regression analysis revealed that patient age, equipment used, and the presence of soundproof booths were significantly related to diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions

We have presented comprehensive evidence regarding the effectiveness of smartphone-based tests in diagnosing hearing loss. Smartphone-based audiometry may serve as an accurate and accessible approach to hearing evaluations, especially in settings where conventional PTA is unavailable.

Accuracy of affordable instruments for hearing screening in adults and the elderly

PURPOSE

To evaluate the accuracy of affordable instruments for hearing screening of adults and the elderly.

METHODS

This study was carried out with users of a Hearing Health Service of the Unified Health System. All were screened with the MoBASA smartphone application, the Telehealth audiometer (TH) and the electronic version of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - screening version - eHHIE-S. The examiners were blinded to the results of the screening tests and pure tone audiometry (PTA). Hearing impairment was considered for those with a PTA quadritonal mean greater than 40 dB in the best ear. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively) were calculated. The Kappa index was used as an agreement indicator between the PTA and the screening results.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 80 individuals between 18 and 94 years old (55.18 ± 20.21). In the PTA test, 21 individuals (26.25%) had typical hearing and 59 (73.75%) hearing loss. In the hearing screening tests, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV values greater than 75% were observed with the MoBASA as well as in terms of sensitivity and NPV of the TH and the eHHIE-S. The TH and the eHHIE-S specificity and PPV were less than 75%. The Kappa index indicated a substantial agreement (0.6) between the PTA and the MoBASA screening results. The TH and the eHHIE-S showed regular agreement (0.3).

CONCLUSION

MoBASA proved to be an accurate method for hearing screening of adults and the elderly with disabling hearing loss.

Validity of hearing screening using hearTest smartphone-based audiometry: performance evaluation of different response modes

Objective: To investigate the validity of hearing screening with hearTest smartphone-based audiometry and to specify test duration addressing the two response modes and hearing loss criteria.Design: A diagnostic accuracy study comparing hearing screening with conventional audiometry.Study sample: Three hundred and forty individuals, aged between 5-92 years.Results: Of the 340 participants, 301 undertook all test procedures (273 adults and 28 children). Sensitivity and specificity were >90% for hearTest hearing screening to identify disabling hearing loss for both response modes with adults and children. We found similar sensitivity in identifying any level of hearing loss for both response modes in children, with specificity >80%, and for the self-test mode in adults. Low specificity was observed when identifying any level of hearing loss in adults using the test-operator mode. In adults, there was a significant difference between test duration for the test-operator and self-test modes.Conclusion: Hearing screening using hearTest smartphone-based audiometry is accurate for the identification of both disabling hearing loss and any level of hearing loss in adults and children in the self-test response mode. The test-operator mode is also an option for children; however, it does not provide good accuracy in identifying mild level of hearing loss in adults.

Development and evaluation of a tablet-based diagnostic audiometer

Objective: To develop and evaluate a software application capable of conducting Pure-Tone Audiometry tests in clinical practice. Design: We designed and developed a mobile software application for iPad devices that performs Pure-Tone Audiometry according to ANSI and IEC standards. The application is proposed to be operated by a trained audiologist inside a sound booth. No extra equipment is required. Hence, it updates the procedure by showing the versatility of the proposed system. Particularly, it provides manual and automated measurement, including air- and bone-conduction audiometry. Study sample: Twenty-nine participants-patients of Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece were tested, with all degrees of hearing sensitivity. Manual air- and bone-conduction Pure-Tone Audiometry was conducted inside a sound booth. Participants were tested with conventional audiometry and the audiometric application, in order to validate the tablet-based audiometer for measuring hearing thresholds. Results: The majority (90.9%) of air-conduction estimated hearing thresholds and (90.8%) of air-bone gaps were within 5 dB, compared to results obtained by conventional audiometry. Thus, threshold differences were not significant. Conclusions: The proposed audiometer is a reliable and valid tool for hearing assessment. Owing to certain limitations, mobile devices can provide a feasible substitute for conventional audiometry in clinical practice.

A Tablet-Based Mobile Hearing Screening System for Preschoolers: Design and Validation Study

Background

Hearing ability is important for children to develop speech and language skills as they grow. After a mandatory newborn hearing screening, group or mass screening of children at later ages, such as at preschool age, is often practiced. For this practice to be effective and accessible in low-resource countries such as Thailand, innovative enabling tools that make use of pervasive mobile and smartphone technology should be considered.

Objective

This study aims to develop a cost-effective, tablet-based hearing screening system that can perform a rapid minimal speech recognition level test.

Methods

An Android-based screening app was developed. The screening protocol involved asking children to choose pictures corresponding to a set of predefined words heard at various sound levels offered in a specifically designed sequence. For the app, the set of words was validated, and their corresponding speech power levels were calibrated. We recruited 122 children, aged 4-5 years, during the development phase. Another 63 children of the same age were screened for their hearing abilities using the app in version 2. The results in terms of the sensitivity and specificity were compared with those measured using the conventional audiometric equipment.

Results

For screening purposes, the sensitivity of the developed screening system version 2 was 76.67% (95% CI 59.07-88.21), and the specificity was 95.83% (95% CI 89.77-98.37) for screening children with mild hearing loss (pure-tone average threshold at 1, 2, and 4 kHz, >20 dB). The time taken for the screening of each child was 150.52 (SD 19.07) seconds (95% CI 145.71-155.32 seconds). The average time used for conventional play audiometry was 11.79 (SD 3.66) minutes (95% CI 10.85-12.71 minutes).

Conclusions

This study shows the potential use of a tablet-based system for rapid and mobile hearing screening. The system was shown to have good overall sensitivity and specificity. Overall, the idea can be easily adopted for systems based on other languages.

Tablet-based tele-audiometry: Automated hearing screening for schoolchildren

Introduction

To assess the performance of a tablet-based tele-audiometry method for automated hearing screening of schoolchildren through a comparison of the results of various hearing screening approaches.

Methods

A total of 244 children were evaluated. Tablet-based screening results were compared with gold-standard pure-tone audiometry. Acoustic immittance measurements were also conducted. To pass the tablet-based screening, the children were required to respond to at least two out of three sounds for all the frequencies in each ear. Several hearing screening methods were analysed: exclusively tablet-based (with and without 500 Hz checked) and combined tests (series and parallel). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy were calculated.

Results

A total of 9.43% of children presented with mild to moderate conductive hearing loss (unilateral or bilateral). Diagnostic values varied among the different hearing screening approaches that were evaluated: sensitivities ranged from 60 to 95%, specificities ranged from 44 to 91%, positive predictive values ranged from 15 to 44%, negative predictive values ranged from 95 to 99%, accuracy values ranged from 49 to 88%, and area under curve values ranged from 0.690 to 0.883. Regarding diagnostic values, the highest results were found for the tablet-based screening method and for the series approach.

Discussion

Compared with the results obtained by conventional audiometry and considering the diagnostic values of the different hearing screening approaches, the highest diagnostic values were generally obtained using the automated hearing screening method (including 500 Hz). Thus, this application, which was developed for the tablet computer, was shown to be a valuable hearing screening tool for use with schoolchildren. Therefore, we suggest that this hearing screening protocol has the potential to improve asynchronous tele-audiology service delivery.

Mobile health solutions in developing countries: a stakeholder perspective

Infrastructural deficiencies, limited access to medical care, and shortage of health care workers are just a few of the barriers to health care in developing countries. mHealth has the potential to overcome at least some of these challenges. To address this, a stakeholder perspective is adopted and an analysis of existing research is undertaken to look at mHealth delivery in developing countries. This study focuses on four key stakeholder groups i.e., health care workers, patients, system developers, and facilitators. A systematic review identifies 108 peer-reviewed articles, which are analysed to determine the extent these articles investigate the different types of stakeholder interactions, and to identify high-level themes emerging within these interactions. This analysis illustrates two key gaps. First, while interactions involving health care workers and/or patients have received significant attention, little research has looked at the role of patient-to-patient interactions. Second, the interactions between system developers and the other stakeholder groups are strikingly under-represented.