PURPOSE

Hearing screening results for newborns of diabetic mothers were compared with those of nondiabetic controls.

METHOD

This study was a retrospective chart review of mothers with pregestational diabetes mellitus and their neonates (n=73) who received newborn hearing screening between January 1, 2000, and May 1, 2002. A group of nondiabetic mothers and their infants (n=73), with birth dates that matched the diabetic group, served as controls. A 2-tiered hearing screening protocol, employing distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) and automated auditory brainstem response (A-ABR) screening techniques, was used.

RESULTS

The DPOAE screening failure rate was 5.5% (4/73) for babies in the nondiabetic control group and 11.0% (8/73) for infants of diabetic mothers; this difference was not statistically significant. The A-ABR failure rate was 9.1% (1/11) for the diabetic group compared with 0% (0/4) for the controls, but the A-ABR was measured for only a small number of participants in each group. The frequency of premature birth and abnormal birth weight was significantly greater for the infants of diabetic mothers compared with controls.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the greater frequency of prematurity and abnormal birth weight in the population of neonates born to diabetics, additional research using A-ABR is recommended.