Evaluation of Accuracy and Reliability of a Mobile Screening Audiometer in Normal Hearing Adults

Quantifying hearing thresholds via mobile self-assessment audiometric applications has been demonstrated repeatedly with heterogenous results regarding the accuracy. One important limitation of several of these applications has been the lack of appropriate calibration of their core technical components (sound generator and headphones). The current study aimed at evaluating accuracy and reliability of a calibrated application (app) for pure-tone screening audiometry by self-assessment on a tablet computer: Audimatch app installed on Apple iPad 4 in combination with Sennheiser HDA-280 headphones. In a repeated-measures design audiometric thresholds collected by the app were compared to those obtained by standardized automated audiometry and additionally test-retest reliability was evaluated. Sixty-eight participants aged 19-65 years with normal hearing were tested in a sound-attenuating booth. An equivalence test revealed highly similar hearing thresholds for the app compared with standardized automated audiometry. A test-retest reliability analysis within each method showed a high correlation coefficient for the app (Spearman rank correlation: rho = 0.829) and for the automated audiometer (rho = 0.792). The results imply that the self-assessment of audiometric thresholds via a calibrated mobile device represents a valid and reliable alternative for stationary assessment of hearing loss thresholds, supporting the potential usability within the area of occupational health care.