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Validation of self-reported hearing loss using television volume

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2010

B Ranganathan ,
P Counter  and
I Johnson
B Ranganathan*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Sunderland Royal Hospital, UK
P Counter
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle, UK
I Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mr B Ranganathan, ENT Registrar, William Harvey Hospital, Ashford TN24 0LZ, UK E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective:

To assess the diagnostic utility of using television volume as a marker for hearing loss.

Study design:

Prospective study using a self-administered questionnaire.

Setting:

ENT and audiology out-patient departments in the north of England.

Participants:

One hundred and seventeen patients with a history of hearing loss, undergoing pure tone audiometry for the first time.

Main outcome measures:

sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and positive and negative predictive value of television volume as a marker of hearing loss.

Results:

The data indicated that if the patient (or their partner or parent) reported viewing television with an increased volume, then there was a 68 per cent chance of the patient having a hearing loss of 25 dB or more. Patients reporting increased television volume had a mean hearing loss of 35 dB. Increased television volume had a sensitivity of 81 per cent and a specificity of 52 per cent as a predictor of hearing loss. Patients who increased their television volume to watch news programmes had an average hearing loss of 41 dB; increased television volume for news programmes had a sensitivity of 75 per cent and a specificity of 71 per cent as a predictor of hearing loss.

Conclusions:

Television volume is a useful marker of hearing loss in situations where audiometry is unavailable, for instance in a primary care setting. However, it is not a very specific test.

Keywords

Hearing LossAudiometryTelevision
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 125 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 18 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2010

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Footnotes

Presented as a poster at the North of England Otolaryngology Society Meeting, 12 September 2008, Sunderland, UK, and orally at the Otolaryngological Research Society Meeting, 2 April 2009, Nottingham, UK.

References

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