PureToneAudiometry(PTA)isanessentialinvestigationusedinevaluatingthedegreeandthecharacterofhearingloss.However,duetobusyclinictimeandoverflowofpatients,thePTAteachingisnotoptimizedduringclinicalsessions.Accordingly,thestudents’experienceofPTAisnotoptimized.Toovercomethisproblem,theresearchersencouragedthestudentstousethesmartphone’sapplication(APPs)thatsimulatePTAtosupporttheteachingandlearningprocessofaudiology.Fifty-sevenmedicalstudentsintheirfourth-yearinUniversityMalaysiaSabah(UMS)contributedtothisstudy.TheyusedthatAPPstoscreenthehearingstatusinarandomsampleofapopulation(N=277)intheworkplace.ThestudentsmanagedtoanalyzePTA.Athirdofstudentsperformedthetestscorrectly.APPsshowedhigheffectivenessasadiagnostictoolwhichsupportedtheirskillsinsolvingtheclinicalproblem.Theymanagedtoconfirmthediagnosisofpresbycusis(hearingimpairmentduetoaging)inpatientsaged60andabove.APPsasascreeningtoolsupportedstudents’skillsinperformingPTAtesting(learningbydoing).TheyidentifiedabnormalPTAin51.9%amongthosecaseswhodidnothaveanycomplaintofhearingloss.TheAPPsresultsconfirmedthecomplaintofthehearinglossin42.6%ofcases.APPswasalsohelpfulinidentifyingnon-manifestedconditionsin40.4%ofcases.Theavailabilityandreliabilityofsmartphone’sAPPscanovercometheproblemsoflimitedexposuresandtheexpensivesimulators.Eventually,itwillenhancethemedicalstudents’competency.
