Effectiveness of smartphone-based application with wirelless earbuds as result indication of audiometric testing : case study among workers in a Hospital, Chonburi province
Abstract:
The purposes of this quasi-experimental research were: 1) to compare the hearing threshold of participants using a smartphone-based hearing test application with wireless earbuds with conventional audiogram and to determine the accuracy of a smartphone-based hearing test application with wireless earbuds with conventional audiometer. A total of 41 subjects were recruited using systematic random sampling from a hospital, Chonburi province. Pure tone audiogram thresholds were measured from 500 Hz to 8000 Hz, while smartphone measurement was obtained with Hearing Test application. All data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was applied to calculate a relationship between Hearing Test application with wireless earbuds and conventional audiometer. The statistical significance is determined at p < 0.01.
The result showed that there was significant difference between the average hearing threshold obtained on smartphone-based application with wireless earbuds and conventional audiometer for all frequencies. The results from smartphone-based application were significantly lower than the one determined by conventional audiometer for all frequencies. The results also revealed high positive correlation for the frequencies 500-2,000 Hz (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient; ICC 0.61-0.87) and very high positive correlation for the frequencies 3,000-8,000 Hz (ICC 0.90-0.95).
In conclusion, the method of hearing test carried out on smartphone-based application with wireless earbuds demonstrates high compatibility with conventional audiometer, which confirms its potential application in hearing monitoring and screening tests on a large scale.