J Am Acad Audiol 2003; 14(01): 009-019
DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.14.1.3
Articles
American Academy of Audiology. All rights reserved. (2003) American Academy of Audiology

Predictive Validity and Reliability of Adult Hearing Screening Techniques

Sharon G. Scudder
,
Deborah S. Culbertson
,
Claire M. Waldron
,
Jill Stewart
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
07 August 2020 (online)

Preview

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of hearing screening tools to identify hearing loss in the older adult population. The test-retest reliability of both the AuDX DPOAE hand-held screener and subjective otoscopic ratings of percent earwax accumulation were evaluated. Additionally, the predictive validity was investigated for five hearing screening tools: the DPOAE hand-held screener, pure-tone screening, screening otoscopy, self-assessment of communication, and case history screening. The research was conducted through typical community hearing screenings on normal-hearing and hearing-impaired volunteer subjects. The screening subjects included 67 adults aged 49 to 89 years. Of those, 44 returned for a full audiologic evaluation. Key findings include: (1) Pure-tone screening had predictive validity for actual hearing loss in the older adult population when a 25 dB HL fence is used; (2) Screening otoscopy ratings were highly reliable across time and raters; (3) Self-assessment scores did not predict compliance with referral recommendations; (4) The AuDX DPOAE hand-held screener proved to be reliable in the overall pass/refer outcome, but lacked predictive validity for actual hearing loss in older adults.