Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; and, Department of Rehabilitative Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Fort Hare, East London.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2021 Sep 30;13(1):e1-e4. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.3077.
Paediatric human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) often manifests with hearing loss (HL). Given the impact of HL, early detection is critical to prevent its associated effects. Yet, the majority of children living with HIV/AIDS (CLWHA) cannot access hearing healthcare services because of the scarcity of audiologists and expensive costs of purchasing screening equipment. Alternative solutions for early detection of HL are therefore necessary.
The overall aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using self-administered smartphone-based audiometry for early HL detection amongst CLWHA.
This study was conducted at the paediatrics department of a state hospital in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
This was a feasibility study conducted amongst twenty-seven (27) CLWHA who were in the age group of 6-12 years. The participants self-administered hearing screening tests using a smartphone-based audiometric test. The primary end-points of this study were to determine the sensitivity, specificity and test-retest reliability of self-administered hearing screening.
The sensitivity and specificity for self-administered screening were 82% and 94%, respectively, with positive and negative predictive values of 90% and 88%, respectively. Moreover, a strong positive test-retest reliability (r = 0.97) was obtained when participants self-administered the screening test.
Six- to 12-year-old CLWHA were able to accurately self-administer hearing screening tests using smartphone-based audiometry. These findings show that self-administered smartphone audiometry can be used for serial hearing monitoring in at-risk paediatric patients.
儿科人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）/获得性免疫缺陷综合征（AIDS）常表现为听力损失（HL）。鉴于 HL 的影响，早期发现对于预防其相关影响至关重要。然而，由于听力学家稀缺和购买筛查设备成本高昂，大多数 HIV/AIDS 患儿（CLWHA）无法获得听力保健服务。因此，需要寻找其他早期 HL 检测方法。
本研究的总体目的是评估使用自我管理的智能手机听力计早期检测 CLWHA 中 HL 的可行性。
本研究在南非东开普省一家州立医院的儿科进行。
这是一项在年龄在 6-12 岁之间的 27 名 CLWHA 中进行的可行性研究。参与者使用智能手机听力计自我管理听力筛查测试。本研究的主要终点是确定自我管理听力筛查的敏感性、特异性和测试-重测可靠性。
自我管理筛查的敏感性和特异性分别为 82%和 94%，阳性和阴性预测值分别为 90%和 88%。此外，当参与者自我管理筛查测试时，获得了强烈的正测试-重测可靠性（r = 0.97）。
6 至 12 岁的 CLWHA 能够准确地自我管理智能手机听力计的听力筛查测试。这些发现表明，自我管理的智能手机听力计可用于高危儿科患者的连续听力监测。
