An Application for Screening Gradual-Onset Age-Related Hearing Loss

Abstract

Objective. Less than 15% of adults in the USA over age 70 receive hearing screening; less than 20% of adults with hearing loss receive any form of treatment. Reasons vary, but affordability and accessibility are major barriers to intervention and treatment. This study provides data supporting a new adult hearing screening measure (NSRT®) that is self-administered, easy to use and focused on difficulties experienced in everyday speech communication. Methods. The NSRT® test materials are sentence-length utterances containing phonetic contrasts. The test requires respondents to determine whether sentences printed on a computer monitor are the same/different from sentences delivered as auditory stimuli through the computer sound card. The test is administered in quiet and +5 dB SNR background noise. Study participants were 120 adults aged 18 - 88 years. Results: Data obtained from the NSRT® testing experience are used to construct a pseudo audiogram. When the predicted hearing thresholds were compared with conventional, clinical pure- tone measures, the sensitivity and specificity of the NSRT® screening measure were 95% and 87%, respectively; diagnostic accuracy was 91%. Conclusions. The NSRT® can identify individuals with hearing loss through a simple screening process grounded in standards set by the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association. The NSRT® is suitable for administration in clinical and nonclinical settings.