Abstract:
Globally, more than 1.5 billion people have hearing loss. Unfortunately, most people with
hearing loss reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where traditional face-to-face
services rendered by trained health professionals are few and unequally dispersed. The COVID-19
pandemic has further hampered the effectiveness of traditional service delivery models to provide
hearing care. Digital health technologies are strong enablers of hearing care and can support
health delivery models that are more sustainable. The convergence of advancing technology and
mobile connectivity is enabling new ways of providing decentralized hearing services. Recently, an
abundance of digital applications that offer hearing tests directly to the public has become available.
A growing body of evidence has shown the ability of several approaches to provide accurate,
accessible, and remote hearing assessment to consumers. Further effort is needed to promote greater
accuracy across a variety of test platforms, improve sensitivity to ear disease, and scale up hearing
rehabilitation, especially in LMICs.
