Crib-O-Gram vs. auditory brain stem response for infant hearing screening.

As a part of the longitudinal evaluation of a cluster of neonatal hearing screening procedures in a single high risk population, Crib-O-Gram (COG) and auditory brain stem response (ABR) screening have been administered to 190 infants in the NICU. Multiple COG screening showed inconsistent results in 25% of the infants. The COG failure rate was 27.9% with 2 out of 3 pass criterion. In the two-intensity ABR screening (70 dB and 30 dB), 17.9% failed at 30 dB bilaterally and 30.0% failed unilaterally. The repeated ABR screening and behavioral observation audiometry at age 6 months identified one infant with a significant hearing loss in 78 infants. Two thirds of the COG failures and a little more than half of the ABR failures had a problem mainly with the middle ear. Advantages and disadvantages of each procedure are presented.