Simplified cochlear frequency selectivity measure for sensorineural hearing loss screening: comparison with digit triplet test (DTT) and shortened speech, spatial and qualities of hearing scale (SSQ) questionnaire.

Abstract

Pure-tone audiometry (PTA) is the gold standard for screening and diagnosis of hearing loss but is not always accessible. This study evaluated a simplified cochlear frequency selectivity (FS) measure as an alternative option to screen for early frequency-specific sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). FS measures at 1 and 4kHz center frequencies were obtained using a custom-made software in normal-hearing (NH), slight SNHL and mild-to-moderate SNHL subjects. For comparison, subjects were also assessed with the Malay Digit Triplet Test (DTT) and the shortened Malay Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) questionnaire. Compared to DTT and SSQ, the FS measure at 4kHz was able to distinguish NH from slight and mild-to-moderate SNHLsubjects, and was strongly correlated with theirthresholds in quiet determined separately in 1-dB step sizes at the similar test frequency. Further analysiswith receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curvesindicatedarea under the curve (AUC) of 0.77 and 0.83for the FS measure at 4kHz when PTA thresholds of NH subjects were taken as≤ 15dB HL and ≤ 20dB HL,respectively. At the optimal FS cut-off pointfor 4 kHz, the FS measure had 77.8% sensitivity and 86.7% specificity to detect 20dB HL hearing loss. FS measure was superior to DTT and SSQ questionnaire in detecting early frequency-specific threshold shifts in SNHL subjects, particularly at 4 kHz. This methodcould be used for screening subjects at risk of noise-induced hearing loss.