Automated Audiometry: A Review of the Implementation and Evaluation Methods

Abstract

ObjectivesAutomated audiometry provides an opportunity to do audiometry when there is no direct access to a clinical audiologist. This approach will help to use hearing services and resources efficiently. The purpose of this study was to review studies related to automated audiometry by focusing on the implementation of an audiometer, the use of transducers and evaluation methods.MethodsThis review study was conducted in 2017. The papers related to the design and implementation of automated audiometry were searched in the following databases: Science Direct, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. The time frame for the papers was between January 1, 2010 and August 31, 2017. Initially, 143 papers were found, and after screening, the number of papers was reduced to 16.ResultsThe findings showed that the implementation methods were categorized into the use of software (7 papers), hardware (3 papers) and smartphones/tablets (6 papers). The used transducers were a variety of earphones and bone vibrators. Different evaluation methods were used to evaluate the accuracy and the reliability of the diagnoses. However, in most studies, no significant difference was found between automated and traditional audiometry.ConclusionsIt seems that automated audiometry produces the same results compared with traditional audiometry. However, the main advantages of this method; namely, saving costs and increased accessibility to hearing services, can lead to a faster diagnosis of hearing impairment, especially in poor areas.

Evaluation of Accuracy and Reliability of a Mobile Screening Audiometer in Normal Hearing Adults

“…Headphones differ in frequency characteristics depending on their specific details of construction. Thus, the use of different types of headphones (circumaural, supra-aural, earbud, or insert headphones) can lead to large variations in amplitude of the test signal depending on their frequency response (Shojaeemend and Ayatollahi, 2018). Consequently, inaccuracies introduced by using non-standardized headphones, frequently applied in consumer products, can be resolved by applying calibrated, professional headphones designed for audiometry.…”

User-Operated Audiometry Project (UAud) – Introducing an Automated User-Operated System for Audiometric Testing Into Everyday Clinic Practice

“…In a systematic review, Mahomed et al (21) suggested that automated pure-tone audiometry provides an accurate measure, but validation is still needed for specific cases such as difficult-to-test populations. In a more recent review, Shojaeemend and Ayatollahi (22) concluded that automated audiometry produces clinically acceptable results compared with traditional audiometry.…”

Sensory disruption and sensory inequities in the Anthropocene

“…Hearing loss is a partial or complete inability to hear in one or both ears 60 and can be accompanied by tinnitus or (hissing noise or high‐pitched ringing in the ears when sound is not present), tympanophonia (or autophonia, abnormal hearing of one's own voice), hyperacusis (sensitivity, pain), and vertigo (problems with equilibrium) 61 . Tests for hearing loss measure hearing sensitivity via an audiogram, which is a graph of individual audible thresholds (intensity and frequency of a given tone) plotted against a standard curve 62 . The clinical definition of normal hearing sensitivity is 25 dB or better in both ears, with impaired hearing sensitivity defined as mild (26–40 dB higher than normal), moderate (41–60 dB higher than normal), severe (61–80 dB higher than normal), and profound (81 dB or greater) 60 .…”