A language-independent hearing screening self-test at school-entry

Elien Van den Borre, Gaziz Tufatulin, Lea Zupan, Nina Božanić Urbančič, Limor Lavie, Inga Holube, Vinay Swarnalatha Nagaraj, Emre Gurses, Sam Denys, Astrid van Wieringen, Jan Wouters

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The 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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2582
JournalScientific Reports
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 31 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, The Author(s).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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