Web- and app-based tools for remote hearing assessment: a scoping review.

Area of Science:

• Audiology and Hearing Science
• Digital Health and Telemedicine

Background:

• Remote hearing screening and assessment technologies offer potential to enhance access to and engagement with hearing healthcare services.
• A comprehensive review is needed to evaluate the current landscape of digital tools for hearing assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and evaluate the functionality of remote hearing assessment tools available on smartphones and online platforms.
• To determine if these tools have undergone peer-reviewed evaluation.
• To report on the accuracy and quality of existing validation data for these remote assessment tools.

Main Methods:

• A systematic scoping review was conducted, adhering to PRISMA-Extension guidelines.
• 187 remote hearing assessment tools (utilizing tones, speech, self-report, or combinations) and 101 validation studies were included.
• Quality, functionality, bias, and applicability of each tool were assessed by at least two independent reviewers.

Main Results:

• Significant variability in functionality was observed among the assessed remote hearing assessment tools.
• Only 22% of the tools were peer-reviewed, and just 14 demonstrated acceptable functionality.
• The quality and results of validation studies varied considerably, often dependent on the tool's category.

Conclusions:

• The accuracy and reliability of most remote hearing assessment tools are currently undetermined.
• Tone-based tools offer approximate thresholds but face calibration and background noise challenges.
• Speech and self-report tools are less susceptible to environmental factors but typically do not provide pure-tone audiograms; language-independent materials may offer a universal solution for audiogram prediction.