Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026
An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners
Published on: March 13, 2026
An internet-based hearing test for simple audiometry in nonclinical settings: preliminary validation and proof of
Louise Honeth1, Christin Bexelius, Mikael Eriksson
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockhom, Sweden. louise.honeth@karolinska.se
Objective:
To investigate the validity and reproducibility of a newly developed internet-based self-administered hearing test using clinical pure-tone air-conducted audiometry as gold standard.
Study Design:
Cross-sectional intrasubject comparative study.
Setting:
Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden.
Patients:
Seventy-two participants (79% women) with mean age of 45 years (range, 19-71 yr). Twenty participants had impaired hearing according to the gold standard test.
Interventions:
Hearing tests.
Main Outcome Measures:
The Pearson correlation coefficient between the results of the studied Internet-based hearing test and the gold standard test, the greatest mean differences in decibel between the 2 tests over tested frequencies, sensitivity and specificity to diagnose hearing loss defined by Heibel-Lidén, and test-retest reproducibility with the Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results:
The Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.94 (p < 0.0001) for the right ear and 0.93 for the left (p = 0.0001). The greatest mean differences were seen for the frequencies 2 and 4 kHz, with -5.6 dB (standard deviation, 8.29), and -5.1 dB (standard deviation, 6.9), respectively. The 75th percentiles of intraindividual test-gold standard differences did not exceed -10 dB for any of the frequencies. The sensitivity for hearing loss was 75% (95% confidence interval, 51%-90%), and the specificity was 96% (95% confidence interval, 86%-99%). The test-retest reproducibility was excellent, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.99 (p < 0.0001) for both ears.
Conclusion:
It is possible to assess hearing with reasonable accuracy using an Internet-based hearing test on a personal computer with headphones. The practical viability of self-administration in participants' homes needs further evaluation.
