Author:
Van den Borre Elien,Tufatulin Gaziz,Zupan Lea,Božanić Urbančič Nina,Lavie Limor,Holube Inga,Swarnalatha Nagaraj Vinay,Gurses Emre,Denys Sam,van Wieringen Astrid,Wouters Jan
Abstract
AbstractThe usage of a tablet-based language-independent self-test involving the recognition of ecological sounds in background noise, the Sound Ear Check, was investigated. The results of 692 children, aged between 5 and 9 years and 4 months, recruited in seven different countries, were used to analyze the validity and the cultural independence of test. Three different test procedures, namely a monaural adaptive procedure, a procedure presenting the sounds dichotically in diotic noise, and a procedure presenting all the sounds with a fixed signal-to-noise ratio and a stopping rule were studied. Results showed high sensitivity and specificity of all three procedures to detect conductive, sensorineural and mixed hearing loss > 30 dB HL. Additionally, the data collected from different countries were consistent, and there were no clinically relevant differences observed between countries. Therefore, the Sound Ear Check can offer an international hearing screening test for young children at school entry, solving the current lack of hearing screening services on a global scale.
Funder
TBM-FWO Grant - Research Foundation
Legaat Ghislaine Heylen
SPRUNG initiative
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC