Evaluation of the audioscope in an industrial setting

In this study, the findings of a 25 dB hearing level Welch Allyn Audioscope test at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz were compared with the standard of conventional pure-tone audiometry in 228 newly hired construction workers. The sensitivity for all frequency-specific comparisons combined was found to be lower than in previous studies done in a nonoccupational setting. After correction for sampling bias, the specificity for all frequencies combined was well within the range reported in other studies. Only 1.9% of ears (1/53) that were able to hear all four audioscope frequencies were found by conventional audiometry to have clinically important hearing loss defined as a 25 dB hearing level averaged over the speech frequencies. Hence, the audioscope can be used as a rapid initial test in workers who otherwise would not have access to hearing screening.