Is cortical automatic threshold estimation a feasible alternative for hearing threshold estimation with adults with dementia living in aged care?

Abstract

Objective: This study explored the feasibility of cortical automatic threshold estimation (CATE), a fully automated late auditory evoked potential (AEP) test, as an alternative to pure-tone audiometry for hearing threshold estimation for adults with dementia living in aged care.

Design: A single group cross-sectional study was conducted. Participants’ dementia severity was determined through the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Hearing thresholds were obtained for four audiometric frequencies in at least one ear by using both pure-tone audiometry and CATE.

Study sample: Sixteen participants enrolled in the study, of which 14 completed at least one of the hearing tests. Twelve ears, from six participants, were included in the final correlation analysis.

Results: Pearson correlation coefficients were significant between CATE and pure-tone audiometry for all frequencies: r² = 0.52 (p = 0.008) for 500 Hz, r² = 0.79 (p = 0.0001) for 1000 Hz, r² = 0.71 (p = 0.0005) for 2000 Hz, and r² = 0.92 (p < 0.0001) for 4000 Hz. Cortical thresholds were within 10 dB of behavioural thresholds for all four frequencies.

Conclusions: Findings are encouraging for the feasibility of CATE as an alternative diagnostic test to pure-tone audiometry for adults living with dementia in aged care.

Keywords:

• Cortical automatic threshold estimation
• pure-tone audiometry
• auditory evoked potential
• hearing evaluation
• hearing impairment
• dementia
• aged care home

Declaration of interest

Fabrice Bardy was involved with the development of HEARLab and its modules, but does not receive financial benefits from its sale.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the ACHs for their assistance with participant recruitment and data collection; the help of the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre and National Acoustic Laboratories in developing CATE as an assessment tool; and Professor Robert Cowan for his feedback on this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, established under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Programme. The CRC Programme supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community.