Newborn hearing screening.

Abstract

In the past, hearing screening was only offered to children with high risk factors for hearing impairment. Nowadays, however, we found that more than half of the children with hearing impairment do not have any risk factors. Therefore, universal hearing screening for every infant is adopted by many countries around the world. Early detection of hearing loss along with early investigation for the causes of hearing loss is beneficial. Early audiological habilitation and management of treatable/preventable hearing loss is possible, e.g., treatment of CMV infection, prevention of ruptured enlarged vestibular aqueduct.

Every normal infant should receive otoacoustic emission (OAE) as a routine audiological screening. As for infants in NICU, however, they should receive both OAE and automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) to screen for both hearing loss and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder, which has higher incidence in this group of children.

After hearing screening, children who fail the test should be referred for full ABR with Tone-pip or narrow band Chirp to evaluate accurate hearing threshold. This is important for audiological habituation and development stimulation of the child.