Clinical evaluation of a computerized self-administered hearing test.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the reliability and validity of a computerized self-administered hearing test.


METHODS
Cross-sectional within a comparative study of subjects.


METHODS
Subjects were 100 Chinese adults who attended the audiology clinic in a hospital for a hearing test.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference in the thresholds of unmasked air-conduction hearing obtained with the computerized self-administered hearing test via a smartphone and those obtained with standard pure-tone audiometry. High test-retest reliability was observed with the self-administered hearing test (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.95), and was comparable with that observed in standard pure-tone audiometry (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.97). The thresholds of the self-administered hearing test measured in a sound-proof booth were not significantly different from those measured in a quiet office room.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the computerized self-administered hearing test is a reliable and valid measure of unmasked air-conduction hearing thresholds.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. annakam@ent.cuhk.edu.hk
Anna Chi Shan
AC
Kam
John Ka Keung
JK
Sung
Tan
T
Lee
Terence Ka Cheong
TK
Wong
Andrew
A
van Hasselt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult