Application of the online hearing screening test Earcheck: Online speech-in-noise testing and SRT performance among teenage students.

Teenagers and young adults are frequently exposed to noise in their daily life,
during leisure time. Literature regarding the relationship between leisure
noise exposure and hearing has revealed inconsistent results. Some studies
reported an increase in the prevalence of NIHL as a result of exposure to
leisure noise, whereas others failed to prove a dose-response relationship. One
of the first signs of noise-induced hearing loss is a disability in
understanding speech in noise. This specific hearing disability can be measured
more accurately by means of a speech-in-noise test than by pure-tone
audiometry. Earcheck (Dutch: Oorcheck), a Dutch online speech-in-noise test was
developed and validated to detect NIHL. The test specifically aims at teenagers
and young adults to raise their awareness of hearing losses, and to screen
participants for hearing losses.
The performance of teenagers and young adults on the online speech-in-noise
test the Oorcheck in the last five years was studied at our department. The
main objective was to get an insight into their speech discrimination abilities
based on these internet survey data. An interesting finding was that SRT scores
tend to decrease (improve) with age. SRT*s of adolescents tend to decrease by
increasing age until around the age of 20 years. This finding may be explained
by developmental changes in adolescence. However to confirm this explanation,
additional research is required.

The aim of this study is to gain insight into speech discrimination abilities
of teenagers, by the use of the online speech-in-noise test, Earcheck. The main
objective is to explore the relation of SRT scores with age, gender, and
education level. The Earcheck will be evaluated among secondary school-aged
normal-hearing teenagers, and a group of normal-hearing young adults will serve
as control group.

To fulfil the purpose of this study we intend to objectify the hearing ability
of teenagers by hearing tests, following a cross-sectional study design. Data
will be collected in January 2016. Quantitative and objective data regarding
speech reception in noise will be obtained by the participants* responses to an
online hearing test (Earcheck), performed in a quiet room at school. In
addition, pure-tone audiometry tests will also be performed at the schools, as
a reference standard. Information on age, gender, and education level will be
collected. The aim is to include normal-hearing young adults as a control
group. The adults will be tested at the same setting, and they will undergo the
same tests.

Since this study is observational, the burden for the participant is minimal.
The participants will perform short and easy online hearing tests at their own
school and during school timings. The audiometry performed is similar to
clinical audiometry.