title: Teleaudiometry as a screening method in school children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy and feasibility of teleaudiometry with that of sweep audiometry in elementary school children, using pure-tone audiometry as the gold standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 243 students with a mean age of 8.3 years participated in the study. Of these, 118 were boys, and 125 were girls. The following procedures were performed: teleaudiometry screening with software that evaluates hearing at frequencies of 1,000, 2000 and 4000 Hz at 25 dBHL; sweep audiometry screening in an acoustic booth (20 dBHL at the same frequencies); pure-tone audiometry thresholds in an acoustic booth (frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz); and acoustic immittance measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The diagnostic capacities of the teleaudiometry/sweep audiometry screening methods were as follows: sensitivity  ϝ  58%/65%; specificity  ϝ  86%/99%; positive predictive value  ϝ  51%/91%; negative predictive value  ϝ  89%/92%; and accuracy  ϝ  81%/92%. Teleaudiometry and sweep audiometry showed moderate agreement. Furthermore, the use of these methods in series with immittance testing improved the specificity, whereas parallel testing improved the sensitivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Teleaudiometry was found to be reliable and feasible for screening hearing in school children. Moreover, teleaudiometry is the preferred method for remote areas where specialized personnel and specific equipment are not available, and its use may reduce the costs of hearing screening programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Botasso
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Seisse Gabriela Gandolfi
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sanches
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo Ferreira
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Bento
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra Giannella
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Samelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001299:Audiometry / Q000379:methods*; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000379:methods*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D002648:Child; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*