Evaluation of a game-based hearing screening program for identifying hearing loss in primary school-aged children

Objectives To evaluate a tablet-based hearing screening game in primary school aged children. To examine the prevalence of middle/outer ear pathology, hearing loss and spatial processing disorder in primary school aged children. Design The automated hearing test Sound Scouts was used as a screening tool, which measures hearing abnormalities through tests of speech-in-quiet/noise and tone-in-noise. Children who failed the screenings underwent follow up testing with pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, otoscopy, and the Listening in Spatialised Noise-Sentences test. Results of each test were compared to measure efficacy. Study Sample 1256 children aged 4-13 years from 8 primary schools. Results 111 children (8.84%) presented with evidence of middle/outer ear pathologies. Eight children (0.64%) had hearing loss in at least one ear. Thirty-two children (2.55%) were diagnosed with spatial processing disorder. False positive rate was 5.93%, indicating that a relatively small proportion of the children who failed the screenings were subsequently shown to have normal auditory function. Conclusions A game based program testing sound detection and binaural speech processing can be effective in detecting undiagnosed hearing deficits, in large format school-based hearing screenings. Prevalence of hearing abnormalities in Victorian primary school aged children were established, highlighting the value of school hearing screening programs.