Objective: To assess the diagnostic utility of using television volume as a marker for hearing loss.
Study design: Prospective study using a self-administered questionnaire.
Setting: ENT and audiology out-patient departments in the north of England.
Participants: One hundred and seventeen patients with a history of hearing loss, undergoing pure tone audiometry for the first time.
Main outcome measures: sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and positive and negative predictive value of television volume as a marker of hearing loss.
Results: The data indicated that if the patient (or their partner or parent) reported viewing television with an increased volume, then there was a 68 per cent chance of the patient having a hearing loss of 25 dB or more. Patients reporting increased television volume had a mean hearing loss of 35 dB. Increased television volume had a sensitivity of 81 per cent and a specificity of 52 per cent as a predictor of hearing loss. Patients who increased their television volume to watch news programmes had an average hearing loss of 41 dB; increased television volume for news programmes had a sensitivity of 75 per cent and a specificity of 71 per cent as a predictor of hearing loss.
Conclusions: Television volume is a useful marker of hearing loss in situations where audiometry is unavailable, for instance in a primary care setting. However, it is not a very specific test.