This article summarises the newly emerging mobile applications for audiological screening. The purpose is to try to reduce the time between individuals identifying a hearing problem and seeking help for it. These apps are gaining in popularity and recognition. The FDA has so far approved one program called iHear, which meets their sound characteristics and calibration standards. More programs are becoming available with the aim to allow parents to screen their children for hearing loss and some tests may be developed to even classify the type of hearing loss. Some tests are conducted through the use of a game that the child subject can interact with through earphones plugged into the mobile device. While applications such as these do not claim to be able to ‘diagnose’ patients as such, they serve as a useful tool to help individuals determine whether they should consider consultation with an audiologist or medical practitioner. The role of the audiologist is to integrate information from the results of tests, the patient’s history and behaviour, mobile applications may not be able to detect nuances that can be judged by human interaction in this manner. It is therefore unlikely that this new branch in mobile application technology will lead to a reduction in the need for audiologists, but might rather perhaps supplement or enhance their practice.
Mobile apps for audiological screening
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