Self-assessment of bone conduction hearing threshold using mobile audiometry: comparison with pure tone audiometry

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Hearing Science
• Mobile Health Technology

Background:

• Bone conduction hearing threshold measurement is crucial for diagnosing hearing loss.
• Traditional methods can be cumbersome and require specialized equipment.
• Self-administered mobile audiometry presents a potential for accessible hearing testing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of measuring bone conduction hearing thresholds using self-administered mobile audiometry.
• To compare the reliability and accuracy of two types of bone conduction headphones with standard audiometry.

Main Methods:

• A cross-over trial involving 77 ears was conducted.
• Mobile audiometry was performed using a freeware app with B71 bone transducers and AfterShokz Openmove open-ear headphones.
• Test-retest reliability and correlation with pure tone audiometry were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Open-ear headphones showed the lowest standard deviation (3.33 dB) in test-retest measurements.
• Intraclass correlations indicated good to excellent reliability for both headphone types compared to pure tone audiometry.
• A significant regression slope difference (0.67) was observed for the air-bone gap with open-ear headphones.

Conclusions:

• Open-ear headphones are a reproducible and user-friendly option for estimating bone conduction thresholds, especially when adjusted for the air-bone gap.
• This mobile audiometry approach offers a viable alternative to traditional bone conduction testing.
• Further adjustments may be needed for precise air-bone gap measurements using this method.