Abstract
The National Hearing Test (NHT) is a telephone-administered screen for hearing loss (Watson et al., J. Am. Acad. Audiol., 2012) that obtains thresholds for three-digit sequences in a noise background. The NHT has been validated by comparing threshold SNR values to mean pure-tone loss. During five weeks in 2014 the NHT was offered without charge to the general public. Over 40,000 calls were made after articles describing the test appeared in eight large-circulation and 19 smaller circulation newspapers, estimated to reach less than 10% of the US public. Among those who completed the test, 81% were estimated to have clinically significant loss in one or both ears. Call numbers suggested that 88% were made from landlines and the remainder from cell phones. Threshold SNRs for cell phones were about 1.0 dB higher than those for landline phones. Samples of the callers were later contacted through telephone and email surveys. Responses indicated a positive influence in terms of the likelihood of seeking further evaluation and obtaining hearing aids if advised to do so. [Research supported by the National Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under award number 5R44DC009719.]
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