Digital Technology for Remote Hearing Assessment—Current Status and Future Directions for Consumers

Karina C. De Sousa, David R. Moore, Cas Smits and Swanepoel De Wet
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Karina C. De Sousa: Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, Gauteng, South Africa
David R. Moore: Communication Sciences Research Center, Cincinnati Childrens’ Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
Cas Smits: Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Section Ear and Hearing, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Swanepoel De Wet: Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, Gauteng, South Africa

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-9

Abstract: Globally, more than 1.5 billion people have hearing loss. Unfortunately, most people with hearing loss reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where traditional face-to-face services rendered by trained health professionals are few and unequally dispersed. The COVID-19 pandemic has further hampered the effectiveness of traditional service delivery models to provide hearing care. Digital health technologies are strong enablers of hearing care and can support health delivery models that are more sustainable. The convergence of advancing technology and mobile connectivity is enabling new ways of providing decentralized hearing services. Recently, an abundance of digital applications that offer hearing tests directly to the public has become available. A growing body of evidence has shown the ability of several approaches to provide accurate, accessible, and remote hearing assessment to consumers. Further effort is needed to promote greater accuracy across a variety of test platforms, improve sensitivity to ear disease, and scale up hearing rehabilitation, especially in LMICs.

Keywords: audiology; hearing health; hearing loss; digital hearing evaluation; virtual hearing assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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