We believe that one the most powerful potential motivators is information. That’s why we have stressed the physician’s role in screening and the use of simple paper and pencil or online screeners as well as the traditional “signs of hearing loss” when educating the public. Simple screening information has the potential to inform the individual on the degree or seriousness of their hearing loss. In our view helping an individual to understand they have a hearing loss coupled with an understanding of the consequences of that loss is an important precursor for their wanting to visit a hearing health professional.

To this end the BHI has developed the BHI Quick Hearing Check based on the Revised AAO five minute hearing check. This subjective instrument has been shown to be correlated with objective audiological data. At BHI it is available in paper and pencil form or online. Both versions permit the patient to understand how their hearing loss compares to more than 2,000 adults with hearing loss as well as their spouses’ perception of their hearing loss (these data were derived from the NCOA study database).

With the help of Dr. Ruth Bentler (University of Iowa), we want to further validate this instrument by including a prediction of objective measures of hearing loss; we believe this will enhance its value. We would like to begin this research immediately in anticipation of a National hearing screening event that we want to inaugurate for Better Hearing and Speech Month.

Here’s how you can help us further validate the BHI Quick Hearing Check:

1. Share confidential and de-identified patient audiogram data with BHI at the following link: www.betterhearing.org/audiogram.
2. Concurrently administer the BHI Quick Hearing Check either online or by paper-and-pencil and also enter this score on our audiogram form. The Quick Hearing Check is available from any web page at BHI. The form is available for purchase in pad form as part of our physician referral program or hearing health professionals may download the Quick Hearing Check and print locally.
3. You may submit as many patient audiograms as you want. However, we cannot use audiogram data without the concurrent BHI Quick Hearing Check score.
4. Please make sure that you submit information on all types of patients: from very mild to profound hearing losses, young people as well as the elderly, males and females.
5. For each patient entry BHI will enter your name into a sweepstake for five $100 cash prizes; the more entries the greater your chance to win.
6. For patients you have already tested within the last 3 months it is permissible to go back to them just to get their BHI Quick Hearing Check Score.
7. Audiogram data will be accepted through the end of March 2008 and winners will be contacted then.

In advance thanks for your help!

Regards,

Sergei Kochkin
Executive Director
Better Hearing Institute

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