[Sensitivity of distortion product otoacoustic emissions and auditory brain-stem response in neonatal hearing screening, a comparative study].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the sensitivity of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) and auditory brain-stem response (ABR) in neonatal hearing screening.

METHODS

DPOAE and ABR were conducted on 99 neonates (198 ears) at risk of hearing impairment as initial screening tests. One month later rescreening tests were conducted: DPOAE was conducted again on those ears failing this test during the initial screening test and ABR was conducted again on the ears failing this test during the initial screening test Those ears failing the DPOAE and ABR tests during the rescreening tests were examined with electric otoscope, diagnostic ABR, etc. to get confirmed diagnosis.

RESULTS

54 ears (27%) failed the DPOAE test during the initial screening and 14 out of the 54 ears (14/198, 7%) still failed the DPOAE test during the rescreening. 26 ears (12%) failed the ABR test during the initial screening and 9 out of the 16 ears (9/198, 4.5%) still failed this test during the rescreening. Two babies were confirmed as with severe sensorineural hearing loss, one unilateral and one bilateral. The sensitivity was 97% for DPOAE and 99% for ABR.

CONCLUSION

ABR is a little bit more sensitive then DPOAE in neonatal hearing screening. Two-stage testing procedure increases the sensitivity of neonatal hearing screening.