ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: The need for repeated auditory screening throughout early childhood faces the obstacle of the lack of objective validated material. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this two-year prospective study was to create and validate frequency-based word/picture lists appropriate for four-year-olds. Words were chosen not on the basis of the acoustic frequency of phoneme production, but on frequencies corresponding to their optimal recognition. Responses thus were to predict pure-tone threshold curves. MATERIAL AND METHODS: First of all, the linguistics laboratory created lists. Next, we proceeded to validate the form of the test: this involved verifying that the words selected on the basis of their frequency characteristics were common and well-known to children of this age. During the first year of the study, the picture boards were tested in a hospital otolaryngology service (66 children) and in a public health service (500 children) and corrected. RESULTS: All of the words and pictures were known during the next year by 5088 children. The second step was the audiometric validation of the test in a paediatric otolaryngology service. We compared classification of normal and impaired ears according to tonal audiograms and according to "Audio 4": 360 children were tested. Results were the following ones: Se: 0.81, Sp: 0.96, PPV: 0.91, NPV: 0.93. "Audio 4" therefore allows for prediction of pure-tone curves. CONCLUSION: This gives us hope that, directly interpretable by physicians, Audio 4, a rapid test which is attractive to children, will be used in diagnostic paediatric examinations whenever necessary.
