Telephone-Based Hearing Test — a Low-Cost Screening Tool for Everyone

I was listening to NPR’s Morning Edition recently while working on this Blog and that’s how I learned about  a great resource, a telephone-based screening test for hearing problems, that individuals can take at home.  Offered by The National Hearing Test, the cost is $5 (free for AARP members) and the process was developed with the help of an NIH grant.  What impressed me is it tests for the ability to hear words (numbers) against background noise, a very realistic screen for many people’s concerns.  After taking the test, you are offered guidance and resources for follow-up. The NPR story made the point that unlike vision problems, which are hard to blame on others, it is all too easy for those with hearing problems to assume the problem “is” background noise or a failure of younger people to “speak up.”  Further, evaluation of hearing can be an important marker for other health issues, including problems with cognition.

For most reliable results, the website encourages you to use a traditional wired-phone connection, not a cell phone.

According to operation’s website (linked above):

The National Hearing Test is provided on a nonprofit basis. It has no financial connections with any hearing products or services. (Free tests are typically offered by organizations selling hearing aids or providing services for a fee.) The $5.00 fee helps defray the costs of making it widely available to the public and processing test data; any remaining money goes to support further research on hearing loss.

Perhaps “taking” the screening test is a holiday present we can give our families.