Role of Hum Test in Diagnosis of Hearing Loss

Authors

  • Ashish Dhakal Dhulikhel Hospital- Kathmandu University Hospital, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2993-4160
  • Bikash Lal Shrestha Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital
  • Sameer Karmacharya Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital
  • Aakash Pradhan Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/bjhs.v4i3.27013

Keywords:

Conductive hearing loss, Hearing loss, Hum test, Sensorineural hearing loss, Tuning fork, Weber test.

Abstract

Introduction: The Hum Test is used by some otolaryngologists as an alternative to the Weber Test to detect the presence and type of acute hearing change; however, its use has not yet been formally validated.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of Hum test with Weber test to detect hearing loss taking pure tone audiometry as the gold standard.

Methodology: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck surgery, Dhulikhel Hospital- Kathmandu University Hospital, from June 2018 to February 2019. Total of 257 patients were enrolled in the study and were subjected to 3 tests: Weber test, Hum test, and pure tone audiometry.

Results: When examining patients with hearing loss, sensitivity of Hum test and weber test were 60.3% and 93.8 % respectively. In patients with CHL, sensitivity of Hum test was 55.7% while Weber test was 94.8%. In SNHL, it was 74.6% for Hum test and 90.5% for Weber test. Likewise, according to laterality of disease, sensitivity of Hum test was 58.6% for unilateral hearing loss and 65.2% for bilateral hearing loss. For Weber test it was 96.3% for unilateral and 86.4% for bilateral disease.

Conclusion: Hum test is not as sensitive as Weber test in diagnosis of hearing loss both for conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

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Author Biographies

Ashish Dhakal, Dhulikhel Hospital- Kathmandu University Hospital, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal

Lecturer, Department of ENT-HNS

Bikash Lal Shrestha, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital

Associate Professor, Department of ENT-HNS

Sameer Karmacharya, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital

Final year resident, Department of ENT-HNS

Aakash Pradhan, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital

Audiologist, Department of ENT-HNS

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Published

2020-01-03

How to Cite

Dhakal, A., Shrestha, B. L., Karmacharya, S., & Pradhan, A. (2020). Role of Hum Test in Diagnosis of Hearing Loss. Birat Journal of Health Sciences, 4(3), 782–785. https://doi.org/10.3126/bjhs.v4i3.27013

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Section

Original Research Articles