Health

Volume 9, Issue 4 (April 2017)

ISSN Print: 1949-4998   ISSN Online: 1949-5005

Google-based Impact Factor: 0.74  Citations  

An Application for Screening Gradual-Onset Age-Related Hearing Loss

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DOI: 10.4236/health.2017.94051    1,337 Downloads   2,532 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

Objective: Less than 15% of adults in the USA over age 70 receive hearing screening; less than 20% of adults with hearing loss receive any form of treatment. Reasons vary, but affordability and accessibility are major barriers to intervention and treatment. This study provides data supporting a new adult hearing screening measure (NSRT) that is self-administered, easy to use and focused on difficulties experienced in everyday speech communication. Methods: The NSRT test materials are sentence-length utterances containing phonetic contrasts. The test requires respondents to determine whether sentences printed on a computer monitor are the same/different from sentences delivered as auditory stimuli through the computer sound card. The test is administered in quiet and +5 dB SNR background noise. Study participants were 120 adults aged 18 - 88 years. Results: Data obtained from the NSRT testing experience are used to construct a pseudo audiogram. When the predicted hearing thresholds were compared with conventional, clinical puretone measures, the sensitivity and specificity of the NSRT screening measure were 95% and 87%, respectively; diagnostic accuracy was 91%. Conclusions: The NSRT can identify individuals with hearing loss through a simple screening process grounded in standards set by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The NSRT is suitable for administration in clinical and nonclinical settings.

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Garrison, W. and Bochner, J. (2017) An Application for Screening Gradual-Onset Age-Related Hearing Loss. Health, 9, 715-726. doi: 10.4236/health.2017.94051.

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