Hearing Screening in Newborns Under 24 Hours of Age

Abstract

This study was conducted to answer questions raised by the current trend to implement universal newborn hearing screening programs in hospitals with consistently decreasing infant age at the time of discharge. Two newborn hearing screening procedures, automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE), were performed on 110 infants, with a mean age of 15 hours, from a well baby nursery. The resulting “pass” or “refer” was compared by screening procedure and by age of infant in hours at the time of the screen. One hundred seven infants (97%) passed the AABR screen, whereas 69 infants (63%) passed the TEOAE screen. The age of the infant was not a factor for the three infants who did not pass the AABR screen; however, a significant age-related effect was identified for the TEOAE screen. A significant difference (at the 0.05 level) was found between infants younger than 10 hours of age, infants between 10 and 24 hours of age, and infants older than 24 hours of age. Young infants were less likely to pass the TEOAE screen than older infants. Average AABR test time was 11 minutes 46 seconds, and average TEOAE test time was 12 minutes 47 seconds. Test time was significantly longer for those infants who did not pass a screening test, reflecting repeated attempts to secure a pass result. This study demonstrates that the screening protocol selected for use in universal hearing screening programs must consider the age of the infants to be tested. To facilitate maximum pass rates, the screening of young infants is best suited to the use of AABR as a first-tier screening procedure. The use of AABR is more time efficient than with TEOAE screening due to the significantly increased pass rates.

Key Words:

AABR - OAE - newborn hearing screening