TY - JOUR
T1 - Smartphone-Based Applications to Detect Hearing Loss
T2 - A Review of Current Technology
AU - Irace, Alexandria L.
AU - Sharma, Rahul K.
AU - Reed, Nicholas S.
AU - Golub, Justin S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Alexandria L. Irace and Rahul K. Sharma have no financial/personal conflicts of interest. Nicholas S. Reed: Scientific advisory board member with no financial ties or reimbursement to Shoebox Inc. and Good Machine Studio and funding from the National Institute on Aging (K23AG065443). No personal conflicts of interest. Justin S. Golub: Funding from the National Institute on Aging (K23AG057832). Travel expenses for industry‐sponsored meetings (Cochlear, Advanced Bionics, Oticon Medical), consulting fees or honoraria (Oticon Medical, Auditory Insight, Optinose, Abbott, Decibel), department received unrestricted educational grants (Storz, Stryker, Acclarent, 3NT, Decibel). No personal conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
Alexandria L. Irace and Rahul K. Sharma have no financial/personal conflicts of interest. Nicholas S. Reed: Scientific advisory board member with no financial ties or reimbursement to Shoebox Inc. and Good Machine Studio and funding from the National Institute on Aging (K23AG065443). No personal conflicts of interest. Justin S. Golub: Funding from the National Institute on Aging (K23AG057832). Travel expenses for industry-sponsored meetings (Cochlear, Advanced Bionics, Oticon Medical), consulting fees or honoraria (Oticon Medical, Auditory Insight, Optinose, Abbott, Decibel), department received unrestricted educational grants (Storz, Stryker, Acclarent, 3NT, Decibel). No personal conflicts of interest. Alexandria L. Irace contributed to data acquisition, interpretation of data, and manuscript preparation. Rahul K. Sharma contributed to data acquisition. Nicholas S. Reed and Justin S. Golub contributed to manuscript preparation. Justin S. Golub also contributed to study concept and design as well as study oversight. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The American Geriatrics Society
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Background/Objectives: Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a widely prevalent yet manageable condition that has been linked to neurocognitive and psychiatric comorbidities. Multiple barriers hinder older individuals from being diagnosed with ARHL through pure-tone audiometry. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the closure of many outpatient audiology and otolaryngology offices. Smartphone-based hearing assessment apps may overcome these challenges by enabling patients to remotely self-administer their own hearing examination. The objective of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of current mobile health applications (apps) that claim to assess hearing. Design: Narrative review. Measurements: The Apple App Store and Google Play Store were queried for apps that claim to assess hearing. Relevant apps were downloaded and used to conduct a mock hearing assessment. Names of included apps were searched on four literature databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) to determine which apps had been validated against gold standard methods. Results: App store searches identified 44 unique apps. Apps differed with respect to the type of test offered (e.g., hearing threshold test), cost, strategies to reduce ambient noise, test output (quantitative vs qualitative results), and options to export results. Validation studies were identified for seven apps. Conclusion: Given their low cost and relative accessibility, smartphone-based hearing apps may facilitate screening for ARHL, particularly in the setting of limitations on in-person medical care due to COVID-19. However, app features vary widely, few apps have been validated, and user-centered designs for older adults are largely lacking. Further research and validation efforts are necessary to determine whether smartphone-based hearing assessments are a feasible and accurate screening tool for ARHL. Key Points Age-related hearing loss is a prevalent yet undertreated condition among older adults. Why Does this Paper Matter? Smartphone-based hearing test apps may facilitate remote screening for hearing loss, but limitations surrounding app validation, usability, equipment calibration, and data security should be addressed.
AB - Background/Objectives: Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a widely prevalent yet manageable condition that has been linked to neurocognitive and psychiatric comorbidities. Multiple barriers hinder older individuals from being diagnosed with ARHL through pure-tone audiometry. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the closure of many outpatient audiology and otolaryngology offices. Smartphone-based hearing assessment apps may overcome these challenges by enabling patients to remotely self-administer their own hearing examination. The objective of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of current mobile health applications (apps) that claim to assess hearing. Design: Narrative review. Measurements: The Apple App Store and Google Play Store were queried for apps that claim to assess hearing. Relevant apps were downloaded and used to conduct a mock hearing assessment. Names of included apps were searched on four literature databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL) to determine which apps had been validated against gold standard methods. Results: App store searches identified 44 unique apps. Apps differed with respect to the type of test offered (e.g., hearing threshold test), cost, strategies to reduce ambient noise, test output (quantitative vs qualitative results), and options to export results. Validation studies were identified for seven apps. Conclusion: Given their low cost and relative accessibility, smartphone-based hearing apps may facilitate screening for ARHL, particularly in the setting of limitations on in-person medical care due to COVID-19. However, app features vary widely, few apps have been validated, and user-centered designs for older adults are largely lacking. Further research and validation efforts are necessary to determine whether smartphone-based hearing assessments are a feasible and accurate screening tool for ARHL. Key Points Age-related hearing loss is a prevalent yet undertreated condition among older adults. Why Does this Paper Matter? Smartphone-based hearing test apps may facilitate remote screening for hearing loss, but limitations surrounding app validation, usability, equipment calibration, and data security should be addressed.
KW - age-related hearing loss
KW - hearing test
KW - telehealth
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U2 - 10.1111/jgs.16985
DO - 10.1111/jgs.16985
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33341098
AN - SCOPUS:85098246860
SN - 0002-8614
VL - 69
SP - 307
EP - 316
JO - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
JF - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
IS - 2
ER -