[Hearing screening of 10,501 newborns].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the results of hearing screening in newborns so as to explore the appropriate clinical strategy of hearing screening among newborns. METHODS: Transiently evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) was used to examine the hearing of 10,501 newborns 2 - 4 days after birth. Those who failed the initial screening underwent secondary screening with TEOAE. Acoustic brain-stem response (ABR) and 40 Hz AERP were used to monitor the hearing of those who failed the secondary screening every 6 months since the age of 3 months to the age of 3 years. RESULTS: The false-positive rate was 14.92% in the initial screening, and was 0.26% after the 2-stage screening. 62 infants were diagnosed with hearing loss with a prevalence of congenital hearing loss (in one ear or two ears) of 5.90 per thousand and a prevalence of bilateral hearing loss of 2.76 per thousand. CONCLUSION: Hearing screening in the procedure with TEOAE, ABR and 40 Hz AERP helps identify infants with hearing loss as early as possible so as to conduct appropriate intervention.