A validation study for a newly developed online hearing test

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A validation study for the frequency-specific digit-in-noise hearing test

• IRAS ID

  288819

• Contact name

  Kevin Munro

• Contact email

  kevin.j.munro@manchester.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  The University of Manchester

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 9 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Research Summary:
  Hearing loss is the most common sensory deficit, affecting more than 5% of the world’s population. Untreated hearing loss reduces peoples’ ability to communicate effectively, which can lead to social isolation, depression and a lower quality of life. \n\nHearing health services are usually based in hospitals or clinics with registered hearing health professionals. However, access to such services is occasionally unavailable or restricted (e.g. during pandemics). Thus, there is an emerging need for non-clinic-based hearing health services. \n\nA research team at the University of Manchester has developed an online hearing test with the aim of allowing hearing health professionals to programme hearing aids (the primary intervention for hearing loss) on the basis of a hearing test conducted over the Internet. The goal of this validation study is to determine the accuracy of the online hearing test when compared to the participant’s hearing thresholds (which were obtained in the audiology clinic over the past year). \n\nThis study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (funder reference: IS-BRC-1215-20007).

  Summary of Results:
  Hearing services are typically provided in hospitals or clinics by qualified professionals. However, there are times when access to these services is limited, because of workforce issues, high demand and during pandemics. Therefore, there is a need for non-clinic-based hearing assessment services. A research team at the University of Manchester has developed various hearing tests that can be completed remotely over the Internet. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of these tests by comparing the test findings obtained at home over the internet with conventional completed hearing tests stored in hospital records. Participants were invited, either in person or by post, to complete an online hearing test at home using their own devices and headphones. This study aimed to recruit 300 participants, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we only recruited 167 participants. Preliminary analysis of incomplete data indicates good to strong correlations between the new Internet hearing test and the clinic hearing test. Our analysis suggests that one of the new Internet hearing tests could potentially assist in conducting hearing assessments remotely via the internet. Despite the promising preliminary results, more data and further investigation are necessary to improve our confidence in the findings of this experiment

• REC name

  South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/SC/0444

• Date of REC Opinion

  13 Jan 2021

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion