title: Comparison of self-reported and audiometrically-measured hearing loss in the Australian Defence Force.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between self-reported and audiometrically-measured hearing loss in a sample of Australian Defence Force personnel.
  
  
  METHODS
  Responses to a question regarding hearing problems were compared with contemporaneous audiometric data.
  
  
  METHODS
  3335 members of the Australian Defence Force for whom anonymised medical records were available.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sensitivity of self-report data to identify higher-frequency hearing loss was lower than sensitivity at other frequencies, and positive predictive values were moderate to poor at all frequencies. Performance characteristics of self-report compared with audiometric data also varied with age, sex, and rank.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While self-report hearing loss data have good performance characteristics for estimating prevalence of hearing loss as defined by audiometric criteria, this study indicates that the usefulness of self-report data in identifying individuals with hearing loss may be limited in this population.
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Centre for Military and Veterans' Health, Mayne Medical School, Brisbane, Australia. k.kirk@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Annabel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: Peter E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Nasveld
authors.forename: Susan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Treloar
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D057566:Self Report; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity