Newborn hearing screening with transient evoked otoacoustic emission: a prospective study in a tertiary health care centre

Background: As hearing impairment is a hidden disability, it is usually detected after 2-3 years by which time there will be irreversible stunting of the skills and hence rehabilitation procedures like hearing aids, speech therapy are unable to ensure complete development of speech. Therefore hearing impairment should be diagnosed as early as           6 months to ensure timely therapy. The objective of the study is to identify the proportion of incidence of hearing impairment in neonates using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) as a screening tool. Methods: Prospective study on 800 newborns in a tertiary hospital using TEOAE. Brain stem evoked response audiometry (BERA) was used to confirm hearing loss in neonates who failed TEOAE. Results: Thirteen out of 800 newborns failed TEOAE test on first screening. Two failed on 2 nd TEOAE test done after 3-4 weeks. Hearing loss was later confirmed in them with BERA test. Conclusions: Proportion of hearing loss in our study was 0.25%. Hearing screening should be done as early as possible so that deaf children are rehabilitated early.