[M-Quick SIN in hearing screening: a pilot study in elderly physical examination populations]

Objective: To investigate the practicality of the M-Quick SIN for hearing screening in elderly individuals during physical examinations and to evaluate its consistency with pure-tone audiometry (PTA). Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study, a total of 980 elderly individuals (586 males, 394 females; Age range: 60-90 years old, with an average of 66.4±5.8 years old) who underwent physical examinations at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital​ physical examination center from February to December 2023, were screened using PTA and M-Quick SIN. We performed statistical analysis using SPSS 27.0, and the practicality of M-Quick SIN was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the curve (AUC). Results: The signal-to-noise ratio loss (SNR loss) in the poorer ear measured by M-Quick SIN showed a statistically significant gender difference, with males demonstrating greater loss than females (Z=2.859, P<0.05), and increased withage and the average hearing threshold across 500, 1 000, 2 000, and 4 000 Hz frequencies (4-frequency pure-tone average, 4fPTA) in the poorer ear. Multiple linear regression analysis showed, age (β=0.163, P<0.001) and poorer ear 4fPTA (β=0.729, P<0.001) have a significant positive predictive effect on poorer ear M-Quick SIN SNR loss, while gender has no significant effect on poorer ear M-Quick SIN SNR loss (P=0.642). ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the M-Quick SIN signal-to-noise ratio loss in the poorer ear predicted a poorer-ear 4fPTA>35 dBHL with an AUC of 0.89±0.01, and the optimal cut-off value was>11 dB. Concordance between poorer ear M-Quick SIN SNR loss>11 dB and poorer ear 4fPTA>35 dBHL was substantial (Kappa=0.611, P<0.001). Conclusions: As a speech-in-noise test, M-Quick SIN can serve as a supplementary screening tool for hearing loss in the elderly. A bilateral M-Quick SIN SNR loss≤11 dB may be considered the pass criterion for hearing screening, demonstrating high practicality and accuracy.