Digital speech hearing screening using a quick novel mobile hearing impairment assessment: an observational...

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Digital Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Global hearing impairment is projected to affect 1 in 4 people by 2050.
• Early detection of hearing loss is crucial for timely intervention and management.
• Standard hearing assessments can be time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel digital Speech Hearing Screener (dSHS).
• To assess the dSHS's efficacy in differentiating hearing-impaired from unimpaired individuals.
• To compare dSHS performance against established audiological metrics.

Main Methods:

• Fifty participants aged 55+ underwent dSHS testing and standard pure-tone averages (PTA) and speech-recognition thresholds (SRT).
• One-way ANOVA analyzed differences between hearing-impaired and unimpaired groups using dSHS.
• Classification analysis determined accuracy at 35 dB and 50 dB hearing impairment thresholds.

Main Results:

• dSHS results showed significant correlation with PTA and SRT.
• ANOVA confirmed significant differences between hearing-impaired and unimpaired groups (p < 0.001).
• Classification accuracy reached up to 85.7% for PTA-based and 81.6% for SRT-based impairment at 35 dB.

Conclusions:

• The dSHS effectively screens for hearing impairment in under 3 minutes.
• This tool streamlines in-clinic hearing assessments and patient triage.
• The dSHS shows promise for improving audiological service quality and future clinical applications.