TY - JOUR
T1 - The South African English smartphone digits-in-noise hearing test
T2 - Effect of age, hearing loss, and speaking competence
AU - Potgieter, Jenni Marí
AU - Swanepoel, De Wet
AU - Myburgh, Hermanus Carel
AU - Smits, Cas
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation under the grant number 88803. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Objectives: This study determined the effect of hearing loss and English-speaking competency on the South African English digits-in-noise hearing test to evaluate its suitability for use across native (N) and non-native (NN) speakers. Design: A prospective cross-sectional cohort study of N and NN English adults with and without sensorineural hearing loss compared puretone air conduction thresholds to the speech reception threshold (SRT) recorded with the smartphone digits-in-noise hearing test. A rating scale was used for NN English listeners' self-reported competence in speaking English. This study consisted of 454 adult listeners (164 male, 290 female; range 16 to 90 years), of whom 337 listeners had a best ear four-frequency pure-tone average (4FPTA; 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) of ≤25 dB HL. Results: A linear regression model identified three predictors of the digits-in-noise SRT, namely, 4FPTA, age, and self-reported English-speaking competence. The NN group with poor self-reported English-speaking competence (≤5/10) performed significantly (p < 0.01) poorer than the N and NN (≥6/10) groups on the digits-in-noise test. Screening characteristics of the test improved with separate cutoff values depending on English-speaking competence for the N and NN groups (≥6/10) and NN group alone (≤5/10). Logistic regression models, which include age in the analysis, showed a further improvement in sensitivity and specificity for both groups (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.962 and 0.903, respectively). Conclusions: Self-reported English-speaking competence had a significant influence on the SRT obtained with the smartphone digits-innoise test. A logistic regression approach considering SRT, self-reported English-speaking competence, and age as predictors of best ear 4FPTA >25 dB HL showed that the test can be used as an accurate hearing screening tool for N and NN English speakers. The smartphone digits-in-noise test, therefore, allows testing in a multilingual population familiar with English digits using dynamic cutoff values that can be chosen according to self-reported English-speaking competence and age.
AB - Objectives: This study determined the effect of hearing loss and English-speaking competency on the South African English digits-in-noise hearing test to evaluate its suitability for use across native (N) and non-native (NN) speakers. Design: A prospective cross-sectional cohort study of N and NN English adults with and without sensorineural hearing loss compared puretone air conduction thresholds to the speech reception threshold (SRT) recorded with the smartphone digits-in-noise hearing test. A rating scale was used for NN English listeners' self-reported competence in speaking English. This study consisted of 454 adult listeners (164 male, 290 female; range 16 to 90 years), of whom 337 listeners had a best ear four-frequency pure-tone average (4FPTA; 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz) of ≤25 dB HL. Results: A linear regression model identified three predictors of the digits-in-noise SRT, namely, 4FPTA, age, and self-reported English-speaking competence. The NN group with poor self-reported English-speaking competence (≤5/10) performed significantly (p < 0.01) poorer than the N and NN (≥6/10) groups on the digits-in-noise test. Screening characteristics of the test improved with separate cutoff values depending on English-speaking competence for the N and NN groups (≥6/10) and NN group alone (≤5/10). Logistic regression models, which include age in the analysis, showed a further improvement in sensitivity and specificity for both groups (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.962 and 0.903, respectively). Conclusions: Self-reported English-speaking competence had a significant influence on the SRT obtained with the smartphone digits-innoise test. A logistic regression approach considering SRT, self-reported English-speaking competence, and age as predictors of best ear 4FPTA >25 dB HL showed that the test can be used as an accurate hearing screening tool for N and NN English speakers. The smartphone digits-in-noise test, therefore, allows testing in a multilingual population familiar with English digits using dynamic cutoff values that can be chosen according to self-reported English-speaking competence and age.
KW - Digits-in-noise
KW - Hearing loss
KW - Hearing screening
KW - Hearing test
KW - Journal Article
KW - Smartphone
KW - Speech-in-noise
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054508123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85054508123&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29189432
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000522
DO - https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000522
M3 - Article
C2 - 29189432
SN - 0196-0202
VL - 39
SP - 656
EP - 663
JO - Ear and hearing
JF - Ear and hearing
IS - 4
ER -