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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2022
Date Accepted: Sep 18, 2023

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

App-Based Hearing Screenings in Preschool Children With Different Types of Headphones: Diagnostic Study

Tananuchittikul P, Yimtae K, Chayaopas N, Thanawirattananit P, Kasemsiri P, Piromchai P

App-Based Hearing Screenings in Preschool Children With Different Types of Headphones: Diagnostic Study

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2023;11:e44703

DOI: 10.2196/44703

PMID: 37962900

PMCID: 10662668

PASS-Pro Application with Different Types of Headphones for Hearing Screening in Preschool Children - a Diagnostic Study

  • Pornsek Tananuchittikul; 
  • Kwanchanok Yimtae; 
  • Nichtima Chayaopas; 
  • Panida Thanawirattananit; 
  • Pornthep Kasemsiri; 
  • Patorn Piromchai

ABSTRACT

Background:

Background:

Hearing disability in preschool age is a problem that can delay speech language communication and social skill. Hearing Screening by standard audiometry in a developing country is a big problem due to a lack of pediatric audiologists, standard hearing equipment, and standard soundproof room. Therefore, an innovative hearing screening tool that is easily accessible and low cost such as a mobile application should be considered. Headphones were a crucial part of the hearing screening system. The reference audiometric headphone was used in most studies. However, as audiometric headphones were not accessible in rural areas, we hypothesize that the generic headphones can be used in the hearing screening test as well as the standard reference headphones.

Objective:

Objective:

To validate the sensitivity, specificity, Kappa co-efficiency, and time consumption between the Preschool Audiometry Screening System (PASS)-Pro application using TDH39 headphones, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones, generic earmuff headphones versus standard conditioned play audiometry.

Methods:

Methods:

We recruited preschool children aged 4-5 years to participate in this study. The children receive 3 PASS-Pro screening tests using different types of headphones in the quiet room and one standard conditioned play audiometry in the soundproof room. All tests were given in random sequence. The agreement coefficient, sensitivity, specificity, and mean test time were analyzed.

Results:

Results:

There were 44 children who participated in this study. For the mild hearing loss screening, the Kappa coefficients between PASS-Pro application using TDH39 headphones, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones, and generic earmuff headphones versus standard conditioned play audiometry were 0.195, 0.290 and 0.261 (P-value = 0.015, 0.002 and 0.004) respectively. The sensitivity for all headphones was 50% and specificity was more than 88%. For moderate hearing loss, the Kappa coefficients were 0.206, 0.272, and 0.235 (P-value = 0.001, 0.001, and 0.001) respectively. The sensitivity for all headphones was 100% and specificity was more than 92%. There were no statistical differences in sensitivity and specificity between the reference headphone (TDH39) versus Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones, and generic earmuff headphones (P-value > 0.05). The PASS-Pro application significantly used less time than conditioned play audiometry (P-value < 0.05).

Conclusions:

Conclusions:

PASS-Pro Application with generic headphones can be used for hearing screening in preschool age with high sensitivity and specificity. Clinical Trial: Trial Registration: thaiclinicaltrials.org/TCTR20201229002


 Citation

Please cite as:

Tananuchittikul P, Yimtae K, Chayaopas N, Thanawirattananit P, Kasemsiri P, Piromchai P

App-Based Hearing Screenings in Preschool Children With Different Types of Headphones: Diagnostic Study

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2023;11:e44703

DOI: 10.2196/44703

PMID: 37962900

PMCID: 10662668

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