A recent study has shown that 60% of
adolescents suffer from significant, undiagnosed hearing loss, due mainly
to being exposed to excessively loud noise, mainly through earphones
while listening to music. Our program AudioTest enables you to perform a
very accurate test of your hearing, comparable to that performed by a
professional audiologist, using your computer. AudioTest is a very useful
screening tool for monitoring your hearing, and will allow you to
determine if you have a hearing loss that can be treated, and that will
also alert you so that you can take steps to prevent further hearing
loss. The program is very inexpensive and easy to use. It is currently
being used by the New York State Elementary School System as a screening
hearing test for both pre-schoolers and elementary school students. The kids
evidently get a big kick out of testing their own hearing, and it
takes a big work load off of the school nurses.
AudioTest was designed to enable you to test your hearing at home or in
the work place. It tests your hearing in much the same way that a
professional audiologist would. It generates a sequence of 10 test tones
at standard frequencies and increasing volumes to each ear. When you just
perceive the test tones, you simply press the space bar on your
computer's keyboard, and the corresponding sound intensity is recorded.
There is both a Manual test (in which you select the ear to be tested and
the frequency of the sound), and an Automatic test (in which the program
generates all of the standard test tones for both ears, in a random
sequence). In order to obtain the most precise results, the program
includes a calibration procedure, with which you first set the maximum
safe test tone volume, and then determine the frequency response
characteristics of your earphones and / or speakers. Thus, the results
are comparable to those obtained using expensive audiometric equipment.
The results of each hearing test are presented in a standard audiogram
format, and they can be saved and printed out, so that you can determine
any changes in your hearing over time, and can take the results to a
hearing professional if you so choose.
How to measure your hearing with AudioTest
The standard audiometric hearing test consists of measuring your hearing
response to 10 test tone frequencies applied to each ear. You can perform
this test either by using earphones, or by using your computer's speakers
(in which case you should cover the ear not being tested). The results
are expressed in terms of how your hearing compares to that of the
"normal" population. A professional audiologist will use an expensive set
of precisely calibrated earphones, and conduct the test in a soundproof
booth. In contrast, the AudiotTest program provides you with the ability
to calibrate your own earphones. When testing your hearing, it goes
without saying that you should try and minimize stray noise.
