title: Predictive validity and reliability of adult hearing screening techniques.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of hearing screening tools to identify hearing loss in the older adult population. The test-retest reliability of both the AuDX DPOAE hand-held screener and subjective otoscopic ratings of percent earwax accumulation were evaluated. Additionally, the predictive validity was investigated for five hearing screening tools: the DPOAE hand-held screener, pure-tone screening, screening otoscopy, self-assessment of communication, and case history screening. The research was conducted through typical community hearing screenings on normal-hearing and hearing-impaired volunteer subjects. The screening subjects included 67 adults aged 49 to 89 years. Of those, 44 returned for a full audiologic evaluation. Key findings include: (1) Pure-tone screening had predictive validity for actual hearing loss in the older adult population when a 25 dB HL fence is used; (2) Screening otoscopy ratings were highly reliable across time and raters; (3) Self-assessment scores did not predict compliance with referral recommendations; (4)The AuDX DPOAE hand-held screener proved to be reliable in the overall pass/refer outcome, but lacked predictive validity for actual hearing loss in older adults.
authors.affiliation: Audiology Department, Wake County Public School System, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Scudder
authors.forename: Deborah S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Culbertson
authors.forename: Claire M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Waldron
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006320:Hearing Tests / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D038781:Otoscopy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment