The accuracy of a mobile phone application (Wulira app) compared to standard audiometry in assessing hearing loss among patients on treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Uganda

OBJECTIVES:

Our aim was to validate the “Wulira App” a mHealth application against gold standard audiometry as a pragmatic audiometry solution for under-served and vulnerable groups of patients at risk of hearing loss. The specific objectives were as follows:

To compare hearing thresholds determined using the Wulira app to standard pure tone audiometry among patients on MDR-TB treatment.

To determine the correlation between the measured hearing loss with the Wulira app and standard audiometry with patient reported hearing loss.

To determine the proportion of patients on MDR-TB treatment that experience hearing loss?

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

We consecutively recruited patients ≥18 years old and receiving kanamycin in their treatment regimen between February and June 2019 for this study. Clinical and demographic data were obtained from each participant and documented in a secure database. Participants had hearing assessment performed once at enrolment with paired standard audiometry and the Wulira mobile phone app in a soundproof room.

RESULTS:

A total of 120 MDR-TB patients with a mean age of 34.0 (±9.6) years were recruited for this study and 69 (57.5%) were male. When compared to pure tone audiometry, the Wulira app was able to correctly detect 91.4% hearing loss in right ear and 88.4% in the left ear. The specificity of the Wulira app was equally high, reaching 93.2% in the right ear and 91.5% in the left ear.

CONCLUSION:

The Wulira app may be a useful alternative home-based tool for hearing assessment in MDR-TB patients, essentially for early detection of hearing loss following commencement of second-line injectable drugs.