School Hearing Screening With a Portable, Tablet-Based, Noise-Attenuating Audiometric Headset in Rural Nicaragua

Objective To investigate the utility and effectiveness of a noise-attenuating, tablet-based mobile health system combined with asynchronous telehealth evaluations for screening rural Nicaraguan schoolchildren for hearing loss. Study Design Prospective population-based survey. Setting Rural Nicaraguan communities. Patients There were 3,398 school children 7 to 9 years of age. Intervention(s) Diagnostic automated and manual audiometry, detailed asynchronous telehealth evaluations Main Outcome Measure(s) Referral rates, ambient noise levels, and audiometric results as well as hearing loss prevalence, types, and risk factors. Results Despite high ambient noise levels during screening (46.7 dBA), no effect of noise on referral rates on automated audiometry or confirmatory manual audiometry in those who failed automated testing was seen. The overall audiometric referral rate was 2.6%. Idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and cerumen impaction were the most common types of hearing loss in this population with an estimated prevalence of hearing loss (all types) of 18.3 per 1,000 children. SNHL was associated with both drug exposure during pregnancy (p = 0.04) and pesticide exposure in the home (p = 0.03). Conclusion Hearing screening using a tablet-based, noise-attenuating wireless headset audiometer is feasible and effective in rural low-resource environments with moderately elevated ambient noise levels. The referral rate with noise-attenuating headsets was much lower than that previous reports on this population. In addition, manual audiometry resulted in much lower referral rates than automated audiometry. The confirmed hearing loss rate in this study is comparable to reports from other low-income countries that use some form of noise attenuation during screening. Pesticide exposure and drug exposure during pregnancy are potential causes of SNHL in this population.