A national screening test for hearing, administered by telephone.

描述（由申请人提供）：估计有3600万美国公民听力受损，但只有五分之一的人进行了听力测试。正如最近NIDCD工作组所指出的，“在美国，没有现成的低成本听力筛查项目。”该提案的作者与来自印第安纳大学和阿姆斯特丹自由大学医学中心的科学家合作，开发并验证了一种低成本的听力残疾筛查测试，用于电话管理。该测试基于过去七年来在荷兰使用的测试，其版本目前在英国、澳大利亚、法国和德国使用，并正在其他几个国家开发中。美国测试的有效性已经在印第安纳大学听力诊所和退伍军人管理局合作进行的研究中得到了证明。该项目将确定所需的营销类型和程度，以确保测试的大量使用，以及所需的跟踪类型和程度，以确保未通过测试的人寻求专业听力服务。在第一年，该测试将在两个大都市地区开展。其一，主要通过大众传媒进行宣传；另一种方式是向当地组织做报告。感兴趣的人将被引导到一个网站，在那里测试将被解释，他们将被邀请参加测试，费用为4美元。这笔费用将用于支付左右耳进行测试的费用、收集和分析每个受测者的人口统计信息的费用、后续费用以及通过诸如美国退休人员协会杂志和当地报纸、广播和电视等大众媒体宣传测试的费用；或透过向狮子会、基瓦尼斯、扶轮社、退休之家、工会和宗教组织等服务组织作报告。本项目期间的项目净收入将用于扩大可进行测试的地区和改进宣传测试的方法。以第1年的业绩为基础，计划在第2年在其他首都地区实施营销计划。如果美国的反应率与荷兰和英国的报告相似，那么美国每年最终可能有150万至200万人接受检测。这项测试与助听器经销商和制造商宣传的大量“免费”测试的两个不同之处在于：(1)它已被证明是一项有效的临床测试筛选测试；(2)它是由两所大学和一家测试开发公司组成的财团提供的，这两所大学和一家测试开发公司都与助听器行业没有任何经济联系，因此测试结果没有利益冲突。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An estimated 36 million US citizens have impaired hearing, but only one in five has had a hearing test. As noted by a recent NIDCD Working Group, "In the US there are no readily accessible low-cost hearing screening programs." The authors of this proposal, in collaboration with scientists from Indiana University & VU University Medical Center of Amsterdam, have developed and validated a low-cost screening test for hearing disability, for administration by telephone. This test is based on one that has been available for the past seven years in the Netherlands, versions of which are now in use in the UK, Australia, France, and Germany, and are being developed in several other countries. Validity of the US test has been demonstrated in studies conducted at the Indiana University Hearing Clinic and in cooperation with the Veterans Administration. This project will determine the kind and extent of marketing needed to insure substantial usage of the test and the kind and extent of follow-up needed to insure that those who fail it seek professional hearing services. In Year 1 the test will be launched in two metropolitan areas. In one it will be mainly publicized through mass media; in the other through presentations to local organizations. Interested persons will be directed to a website, where the test will be explained, and they will be invited t take the test for a fee of $4.00. The fee will support the cost of administering the test to right nd left ears, the collection and analysis of demographic information from each person tested, the cost of follow-up, and the cost of publicizing the test either through mass media, such as the AARP Magazine and local newspapers, radio and television; or through presentations to service organizations such as the Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, retirement homes, labor unions, and religious organizations. Net program income during this project will be devoted to the expansion of the areas in which the test is available and the refinement of methods of publicizing the test. Based on Year 1 results, marketing plans will be implemented in additional metropolitan areas in Year 2. If the US response rates are similar to those reported in the Netherlands and the UK, between 1.5 and 2.0 million persons could eventually be tested annually in the US. The two differences between this test and the large number of "free" tests advertised by hearing aid dealers and manufacturers are that (1) it has been proven to be a valid screening test in extensive clinical testing and (2) it is made available by a consortium of two universities and a test- development company, none of which have any financial connections to the hearing aid industry and thus have no conflict of interest in the test outcomes.