International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
Volume 74, Issue 7 , Pages 760-764, July 2010

The Hearing Scale Test for hearing screening of school-age children

  • Wen-Huei Liao

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Department of Otolaryngology and National Yang-Ming University Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chiang-Feng Lien

      Affiliations

    • Department of Otolaryngology and National Yang-Ming University Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shuenn-Tsong Young

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author at: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University, No. 155, Sec. 2, Linong St., Taipei 112, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 28267022; fax: +886 2 28210847.

Received 3 December 2009; received in revised form 17 March 2010; accepted 21 March 2010.

Abstract 

Objectives

This study aimed to demonstrate a new modified hearing screening method that can rapidly screen hearing and provide stratified test values for each screened ear of children.

Methods

The proposed Hearing Scale Test (HST) and pure-tone screening (PTS) were applied to 384 school-age children. PTS involved applying four test tones to each tested ear: 500Hz at 25dB, and 1000, 2000, 4000Hz at 20dB; and classifying the results as “pass” (normal hearing in the ear) or “fail” (possible hearing impairment). The HST employs ten stratified hearing scales from S1 to S10, with each hearing scale containing four test tones and where adjacent scales differ from each other by 5dB, ranging from 0dB (S1) to 45dB (S10). The four test tones of hearing scale S5 are the same hearing criteria and the median reference standard of the stimulus level in the HST. Scales S1–S5 on the HST are equivalent to a PTS “pass” result, while S6–S10 and no response (NR) are equivalent to a PTS “fail” result.

Results

The two screening methods produced comparable “pass” and “fail” results. In the HST, the “pass” results were further stratified as S1 in 4 ears, S2 in 52 ears, S3 in 226 ears, S4 in 272 ears, and S5 in 169 ears, while the “fail” results were stratified as S6 in 23 ears, S7 in 12 ears, S8 in 1 ear, S9 in 2 ears, S10 in 5 ears, and no response (NR) in 2 ears. The hearing screening results of the HST are interpreted as follows: scales S1–S5 indicate normal hearing, scales S6 and S7 indicate possible hearing impairment, and scales S8–S10 and NR indicate confirmed hearing impairment.

Conclusions

Conventional PTS only gives a pass/fail result for each screened ear, lacks hearing status assessment, and lacks stratified test values to be recorded for follow-up. In contrast, the HST has stratified hearing scales for each screened ear, which reflects the current hearing status and provides test values that can be recorded for follow-up.

Keywords: Hearing screening, Pure-tone screening, Hearing Scale Test, School-age children

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

PII: S0165-5876(10)00128-X

doi:10.1016/j.ijporl.2010.03.033

International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
Volume 74, Issue 7 , Pages 760-764, July 2010

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution