Clinical validation of automated audiometry with continuous noise-monitoring in a clinically heterogeneous population outside a sound-treated environment

Brennan-Jones, Christopher G.Eikelboom, Robert H.Swanepoel, De WetFriedland, Peter L.Atlas, Marcus D.2016-06-222016-05Brennan-Jones, CG, Eikelboom, RH, Swanepoel, D, Friedland, PL & Atlas, MD 2016, 'Clinical validation of automated audiometry with continuous noise-monitoring in a clinically heterogeneous population outside a sound-treated environment', International Journal of Audiology, vol. 55, no. 9, pp. 507-513, 2016. doi :10.1080/14992027.2016.1178858.1499-2027 (print)1708-8186 (online)10.1080/14992027.2016.1178858http://hdl.handle.net/2263/53284OBJECTIVE : Examine the accuracy of automated audiometry in a clinically heterogeneous population of adults using the KUDUwave automated audiometer. DESIGN : Prospective accuracy study. Manual audiometry was performed in a sound-treated room and automated audiometry was not conducted in a sound-treated environment. STUDY SAMPLE : 42 consecutively recruited participants from a tertiary otolaryngology department in Western Australia. RESULTS : Absolute mean differences ranged between 5.12 – 9.68 dB (air-conduction) and 8.26 – 15.00 dB (bone-conduction). 86.5% of manual and automated 4FAs were within 10 dB (i.e. ±5 dB); 94.8% were within 15 dB. However, there were significant (p<0.05) differences between automated and manual audiometry at 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz (air-conduction) and 0.5 and 1 kHz (bone-conduction). The effect of age (≥55 years) on accuracy (p = 0.014) was not significant on linear regression (p>0.05; R2 = 0.11). The presence of a hearing loss (better ear ≥26 dB) did not significantly affect accuracy (p = 0.604; air-conduction), (p = 0.218; boneconduction). CONCLUSIONS : This study provides clinical validation of automated audiometry using the KUDUwave in a clinically heterogeneous population, without the use of a sound-treated environment. Whilst threshold variations were statistically significant, future research is needed to ascertain the clinical significance of such variation.en© 2016 British Society of Audiology, International. This is an electronic version of an article published in International Journal of Audiology, vol. 55, no. 9, pp. 507-513, 2016. doi : 10.1080/14992027.2016.1178858. International Journal of Audiology is available online at : www.tandfonline.com/loi/iija20.Automated audiometryAudiometryHearing lossTeleaudiologyKUDUwaveClinical validation of automated audiometry with continuous noise-monitoring in a clinically heterogeneous population outside a sound-treated environmentPostprint Article