McPherson B, Law M M S, Wong M S M
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Child Care Health Dev. 2010 May;36(3):323-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01079.x.
There is a need to develop affordable but effective audiometric screening equipment, particularly for use in low-income countries. With advances in computer technology, low-cost computer-based audiometer software has been developed. However, the efficacy of computer-based audiometers in hearing screening and diagnostic assessment requires investigation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a low-cost, computer-based audiometric system in a school-based hearing screening programme.
Eighty children were screened using the computer-based audiometer and with a conventional pure tone screening audiometer. Overall refer rates, as well as frequency and age effects on the accuracy of the computer-based audiometer, were considered.
There was a significant relationship between the low-cost, computer-based audiometer and a conventional pure tone audiometer when a 40 dBHL refer criterion was used in school hearing screening and when test results at 500 Hz were excluded from analysis. However, background noise effects and software limitations in the computer-based system had major adverse effects on screening performance.
The study results and preliminary practical experience with the system suggest that, with further software and hardware improvements, a low-cost, computer-based system may well be feasible for routine school screening in developing countries.
需要开发价格低廉但有效的听力筛查设备，尤其是用于低收入国家。随着计算机技术的进步，已开发出基于计算机的低成本听力计软件。然而，基于计算机的听力计在听力筛查和诊断评估中的功效需要进行研究。本研究的目的是评估一种低成本的基于计算机的听力测量系统在学校听力筛查项目中的准确性。
使用基于计算机的听力计和传统的纯音筛查听力计对80名儿童进行筛查。考虑了总体转诊率以及频率和年龄对基于计算机的听力计准确性的影响。
在学校听力筛查中使用40 dBHL转诊标准且将500 Hz的测试结果排除在分析之外时，低成本的基于计算机的听力计与传统的纯音听力计之间存在显著关系。然而，基于计算机的系统中的背景噪声影响和软件限制对筛查性能有重大不利影响。
研究结果和该系统的初步实践经验表明，随着软件和硬件的进一步改进，低成本的基于计算机的系统很可能适用于发展中国家的常规学校筛查。
