The modified whispered test for screening of hearing impairment in children at the elementary school

Abstract

Hearing impairment in children could be identified by several methods of hearing test. The conventional whispered test is designed with the distance of 6 meters measurement. There is a need to get smaller examination room, then there is a method to modify the distance. this method is Modified Whispered Test, that is quite practical, simple and can be performed in smaller room and for the large groups. The study was designed to know whether the modified whispered test was sensitive or not to screen the hearing impairment among the elementary school students. This study will improve the program of early detection of the hearing impairment among the elementary school students in Surabaya Indonesia. A cross sectional study of 100 elementary school students has been conducted at Sekolah Dasar Negeri Kali Rungkut I, II and III Surabaya. The study was analyzed the validity of whispered test compare to the gold standard, Audiometry. The population-based sample of 100 children (aged 6 to l3 years), was taken randomly and proportionally from the 1st to 6th grade students. It was concluded that the modified whispered test applicable for screening of hearing impairment among elementary school children, with 80% sensitivity, 95,2% specificity and 0,752 Youden Index on 41-55 dB degree of hearing loss (Moderate Hearing Loss). Further Studies of hearing impaired children are necessary to plan preventive and curative program.