Implementation of Mobile Audiometry During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the utility of portable audiometry became more apparent as elective procedures were deferred in an effort to limit exposure to health care providers. Herein, we retrospectively evaluated mobile-based audiometry in the emergency department and outpatient otology and audiology clinics. Air conduction thresholds with mobile audiometry were within 5 dB in 66% of tests (95% CI, 62.8%-69.09%) and within 10 dB in 84% of tests (95% CI, 81.4%-86.2%) as compared with conventional audiometry. No significant differences were noted between mobile-based and conventional audiometry at any frequencies, except 8 kHz (P < .05). The sensitivity and specificity for screening for hearing loss were 94.3% (95% CI, 91.9%-96.83%) and 92.3% (95% CI, 90.1%-94.4%), respectively. While automated threshold audiometry does not replace conventional audiometry, mobile audiometry is a promising screening tool when conventional audiometry is not available.