Remote self-report and speech-in-noise measures predict clinical audiometric thresholds

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Hearing Science
• Remote Health Monitoring

Background:

• Smartphone technology and the COVID-19 pandemic necessitate reliable remote hearing tests.
• Previous remote testing lacked direct comparison with standard clinical evaluations.
• This study validates remote self-administered hearing tests against lab-based measures.

Approach:

• Compared remote, self-administered digits-in-noise (remote-DIN) with lab-based, supervised digits-in-noise (lab-DIN) tests.
• Assessed predictive validity of remote-DIN and SSQ-12 against pure-tone audiometry.
• Measured speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in adults with normal hearing and hearing loss using various noise conditions.

Key Points:

• Remote-DIN showed high internal consistency and significant correlation with lab-DIN SRTs.
• No significant mean difference was found between remote and lab-based DIN tests.
• Remote-DIN SRTs and SSQ-12 scores correlated significantly with pure-tone audiometry, indicating predictive validity.

Conclusions:

• Remote self-administered hearing tests (remote-DIN and SSQ-12) are sensitive tools for assessing auditory function.
• These remote methods offer a reliable alternative to traditional lab-based hearing assessments.
• The findings support the use of remote testing for broader hearing health monitoring.