Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North
Background Access to hearing health care is limited in many parts of the world, creating a lack of prompt diagnosis, which further complicates treatment. The use of portable audiometry for hearing loss testing can improve access to diagnostics in marginalized populations. Our study objectives were t...
Published in: | Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery |
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crsagepubl:10.1177/0194599816644407 2023-05-15T16:55:55+02:00 Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North A Portable and Efficient Method for Hearing Screening Rourke, Ryan Kong, David Chan Chun Bromwich, Matthew 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0194599816644407 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0194599816644407 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0194599816644407 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery volume 155, issue 3, page 473-478 ISSN 0194-5998 1097-6817 Otorhinolaryngology Surgery journal-article 2016 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0194599816644407 2022-08-12T11:32:03Z Background Access to hearing health care is limited in many parts of the world, creating a lack of prompt diagnosis, which further complicates treatment. The use of portable audiometry for hearing loss testing can improve access to diagnostics in marginalized populations. Our study objectives were twofold: (1) to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in children aged 4 to 11 years in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and (2) to test and demonstrate the use of our tablet audiometer as a portable hearing-testing device in a remote location. Study Design Prospective cross-sectional observational. Setting Remote elementary schools in 3 Canadian Northern communities. Subjects and Methods Tablet audiometers were used to test hearing in 218 children. Air conduction pure tones thresholds were obtained at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Children with hearing loss ≥30 dB in either ear were referred for audiology services. Results Tablet audiometry screening testing revealed abnormal results in 14.8% of the study participants. No significant difference in the rate of hearing loss was seen by sex; however, the rate of hearing loss decreased significantly with increasing age. The median duration of the hearing test was 5 minutes 30 seconds. Conclusions Of the study population, 14.8% tested positive for hearing loss based on our interactive tablet audiometer. In this setting, the tablet audiometer was both time efficient and largely language independent. This type of testing is valuable for providing much-needed hearing health care for high-risk populations in rural and remote areas where audiology services are often unavailable. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iqaluit Nunavut SAGE Publications (via Crossref) Nunavut Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery 155 3 473 478 |
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SAGE Publications (via Crossref) |
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English |
topic |
Otorhinolaryngology Surgery |
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Otorhinolaryngology Surgery Rourke, Ryan Kong, David Chan Chun Bromwich, Matthew Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North |
topic_facet |
Otorhinolaryngology Surgery |
description |
Background Access to hearing health care is limited in many parts of the world, creating a lack of prompt diagnosis, which further complicates treatment. The use of portable audiometry for hearing loss testing can improve access to diagnostics in marginalized populations. Our study objectives were twofold: (1) to determine the prevalence of hearing loss in children aged 4 to 11 years in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and (2) to test and demonstrate the use of our tablet audiometer as a portable hearing-testing device in a remote location. Study Design Prospective cross-sectional observational. Setting Remote elementary schools in 3 Canadian Northern communities. Subjects and Methods Tablet audiometers were used to test hearing in 218 children. Air conduction pure tones thresholds were obtained at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Children with hearing loss ≥30 dB in either ear were referred for audiology services. Results Tablet audiometry screening testing revealed abnormal results in 14.8% of the study participants. No significant difference in the rate of hearing loss was seen by sex; however, the rate of hearing loss decreased significantly with increasing age. The median duration of the hearing test was 5 minutes 30 seconds. Conclusions Of the study population, 14.8% tested positive for hearing loss based on our interactive tablet audiometer. In this setting, the tablet audiometer was both time efficient and largely language independent. This type of testing is valuable for providing much-needed hearing health care for high-risk populations in rural and remote areas where audiology services are often unavailable. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rourke, Ryan Kong, David Chan Chun Bromwich, Matthew |
author_facet |
Rourke, Ryan Kong, David Chan Chun Bromwich, Matthew |
author_sort |
Rourke, Ryan |
title |
Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North |
title_short |
Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North |
title_full |
Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North |
title_fullStr |
Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tablet Audiometry in Canada’s North |
title_sort |
tablet audiometry in canada’s north |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0194599816644407 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0194599816644407 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0194599816644407 |
geographic |
Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut |
genre |
Iqaluit Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Iqaluit Nunavut |
op_source |
Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery volume 155, issue 3, page 473-478 ISSN 0194-5998 1097-6817 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0194599816644407 |
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Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery |
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155 |
container_issue |
3 |
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473 |
op_container_end_page |
478 |
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