Newborn Hearing Screening—Experience at a Tertiary Hospital in Northwest India

John Jewel, P. V. Varghese, Tejinder Singh, Ashish Varghese

Department of ENT—Head and Neck Surgery, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.
Department of Paediatrics, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.

DOI: 10.4236/ijohns.2013.25044                

Abstract

Objective: To determine the incidence of hearing impairment in a standardized population of neonates seeking care in a tertiary hospital in Northwest India. Universal hearing screening is implemented in many developed countries. However, neither universal screening, nor high risk screening, exists in India. The incidence of hearing loss in India is found to be 1 to 6 per 1000 newborns screened [1-3]. Screening only the high risk neonates misses 50% of babies with hearing loss [4,5], hence a cost effective universal screening is the viable option to sustain such a program. In our study, the possible burden of hearing disability was evaluated in babies born at a tertiary care hospital in Northwest India. One thousand newborns were screened using Transient Evoked OtoAcoustic Emissions (TEOAE) and 28.6% of them had risk factors. Four out of One Thousand were detected with hearing loss. Brain Stem Evoked Response (BERA) was used to confirm and determine the extent and the type of deafness in the neonates who were screened positive.

Keywords

Hearing Loss; Newborns; Transient Evoked OtoAcoustic Emissions; Universal Screening; Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA)

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	K. R. Bachmann and J. V. Arvedson, “Early Identification and Intervention for Children Who Are Hearing Impaired,” Pediatrics in Review, Vol. 19, 1998, pp. 155-165.
[2]	P. Nagapoornima, A. Ramesh, Srilakshmi, S. Rao, P. L. Patricia, M. Gore, M. Dominic and Swarnarekha, “Universal Hearing Screening,” Indian Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 74, No. 6, 2007, pp. 545-549. doi:10.1007/s12098-007-0105-z
[3]	Rehabilitation Council of India, “Status of Disability in India-2000,” New Delhi, 2000, pp. 172-185.
[4]	Yoshinaga, S. Itano, A. L. Sedey, D. K. Coulter and A. L. Mehl, “Language of Early and Later Identified Children with Hearing Loss,” Pediatrics, Vol. 102, No. 5, 1998, pp. 1161-1171. doi:10.1542/peds.102.5.1161
[5]	J. Hadad Jr., “Hearing Loss,” In: R. E. Behrman, R. Kliegman and H. B. Jenson, Eds., Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 17th Edition, Saunders, Philadelphia, 2004, pp. 2129-2134.
[6]	Joint Committee on Infant Hearing, American Academy of Audiology, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Directors of Speech and Hearing Programmes in State Health and Welfare Agencies, “Year 2000 Position Statement: Principles and Guidelines for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Programmes,” Pediatrics, Vol. 106, 2000, pp. 798-817.
[7]	Joint Committee on Infant Hearing, “Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JICH) 1994 Position Statement,” Pediatrics, Vol. 95, 1994, pp. 152-156.
[8]	M. A. M. De, “Newborn Hearing Screening,” eMedicine, 2004, pp. 1-14.
[9]	K. R. White, B. R. Vohr and T. R. Behrens, “Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Using Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions: Results of the Rhode Island Hearing Assessment Project,” Seminars in Hearing, Vol. 14, 1993, pp. 18-29.
[10]	G. Isaacson, “Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention,” Advances in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Vol. 15, 2001, pp. 1-19.
[11]	K. White and A. Maxon, “Universal Screening for the Hearing Impairment: Simple, Beneficial and Presently Justified,” International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, Vol. 32, No. 3, 1995, pp. 201-211. doi:10.1016/0165-5876(95)01165-8
[12]	www.nnfpublication.org
[13]	K. L. Stein, “Factors Influencing the Efficacy of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening,” Pediatric Clinics of North America, Vol. 46, No. 1, 1996, pp. 95-102. doi:10.1016/S0031-3955(05)70084-5
[14]	S. J. Norton, M. P. Gorga, J. E. Widen, R. C. Folsom, Y. Sinnger, B. Cone-Wesson, et al., “Identification of Neonatal Hearing Impairment: Evaluation of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission, Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission, and Auditory Brainstem Response Test Performance,” Ear and Hearing, Vol. 21, 2000, pp. 508-528. doi:10.1097/00003446-200010000-00013
[15]	R. Keren, M. Helfand, C. Homer, H. McPhilips and T. A. Lieu, “Projected Cost Effectiveness of Statewide Universal Newborn Hearing Screening,” Pediatrics, Vol. 110, No. 5, 2002, pp. 855-864. doi:10.1542/peds.110.5.855
[16]	K. P. Abraham, “Newborn Hearing Screening,” Indian Pediatrics, Vol. 48, No. 5, 2011, pp. 355-359.