Smartphone Based Audiometric Test

 for Confirming the Level of Hearing; Is It Useable in Underserved Areas?

Levent Renda ¹ ,  

Ömer Tarık Selçuk ¹ ,  

Hülya Eyigör ¹ ,  

Üstün Osma ¹ ,  

Mustafa Deniz Yılmaz ¹  

¹ Department of Ear Nose and Throat, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey  

J Int Adv Otol 2016; 12: 61-66
DOI: 10.5152/iao.2016.1421

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the hearing levels of participants of a randomized group using a smartphone hearing application and to compare these results with the results from a pure-tone audiogram.

MATERIALS and METHODS: A heterogenous group consisting of both normal-hearing and hearing-impaired participants were included in this study. Pure-tone audiogram thresholds were measured from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz, while smartphone measurements were obtained with a Samsung Galaxy GT-19500 S4 with a bundled headphone running the Hearing Test™ software (e-audiologia.pl), which was downloaded from the Google Play Store as a free application. We compared these results with those obtained from pure-tone audiograms performed by an audiologist as a reference.

RESULTS: Validity analysis indicated that the results for each ear and each frequency were excellent (>0.75). We assessed the mean difference between the pure-tone audiogram and the smartphone hearing test results and found the absolute difference to be less than 8.8 dB.

CONCLUSION: Smartphone hearing test applications are providing alternative tests that present low-cost solutions. Using the hearing application test may decrease the demand for audiological services in underserved areas. The study suggests that smartphone hearing test results are comparable to pure-tone audiometry results.

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