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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Appraising Smartphone APPs as a Tool for Practical Teaching in Audiology
Author(s)
Maher Sefein, Daw Khin Saw Naing
Gavin Coad
Mohd Normani Zakaria
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DOI:10.17265/2161-623X/2018.07.003
Affiliation(s)
University Malaysia Sabah, Sabah, Malaysia
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
University Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA)
is an essential investigation used in evaluating the degree and the character
of hearing loss. However, due to busy clinic time and overflow of patients, the
PTA teaching is not optimized during clinical sessions. Accordingly, the
students’ experience of PTA is
not optimized. To overcome this problem, the researchers encouraged the
students to use the smartphone’s application (APPs)
that simulate PTA to support the teaching and learning
process of audiology. Fifty-seven medical students in their fourth-year in University Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
contributed to this study. They used that APPs to screen the hearing status in
a random sample of a population (N = 277) in the workplace.
The students managed to analyze PTA. A third of
students performed the tests correctly.
APPs showed high effectiveness as a diagnostic tool
which supported their skills in solving the
clinical problem. They managed to confirm the
diagnosis of presbycusis (hearing impairment due to aging) in patients aged 60
and above. APPs as a screening tool
supported students’
skills in performing PTA testing (learning by doing). They identified abnormal
PTA in 51.9% among those cases who did not have any complaint of hearing loss. The APPs results
confirmed the complaint of the hearing loss in 42.6 % of cases. APPs was also helpful in
identifying non-manifested conditions in 40.4% of cases. The availability and
reliability of smartphone’s APPs can overcome the problems of limited exposures
and the expensive simulators. Eventually, it will enhance the medical students’ competency.
KEYWORDS
Pure Tone Audiometry, smartphone, APPs-learning by doing, problem-solving, screening
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