A national screening test for hearing, administered by telephone.

描述(申请人提供)：据估计，有3600万美国公民听力受损，但只有五分之一的人接受过听力测试。正如最近NIDCD工作组所指出的那样，“在美国，没有容易获得的低成本听力筛查计划。”这项提案的作者与阿姆斯特丹印第安纳大学和弗吉尼亚大学医学中心的科学家合作，开发并验证了一种用于电话管理的低成本听力障碍筛查测试。这一测试是基于荷兰过去七年来推出的一种测试，其版本目前正在英国、澳大利亚、法国和德国使用，并正在其他几个国家开发。印第安纳大学听力诊所和与退伍军人管理局合作进行的研究证明了美国测试的有效性。该项目将确定确保测试大量使用所需的营销类型和范围，以及确保未通过测试的人寻求专业听力服务所需的后续跟踪类型和范围。第一年，这项测试将在两个大都市地区启动。在一种情况下，它将主要通过大众媒体进行宣传；在另一种情况下，则通过向当地组织进行介绍。感兴趣的人将被引导到一个网站，在那里将解释测试，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对右耳和左耳进行测试的费用，收集和分析每个受试者的人口统计信息的费用，后续调查的费用，以及通过大众媒体(如美国退休人员协会杂志和当地报纸、广播和电视)或通过向服务组织(如狮子会、基瓦尼斯会、扶轮社、养老院、工会和宗教组织)介绍测试的费用。本项目期间的净计划收入将用于扩大考试可用的领域，并改进宣传考试的方法。根据第一年的结果，营销计划将在第二年在更多的大都市地区实施。如果美国的响应率与荷兰和英国的报告类似，美国最终每年可能会有150万到200万人接受测试。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)在广泛的临床测试中，它已被证明是一种有效的筛查测试；(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，这两家公司都与助听器行业没有任何财务联系，因此对测试结果没有任何利益冲突。

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.