[Systematic screening of deafness at a maternity ward using evoked otoacoustic emissions: practical aspects and parental attitudes].

Objective: Evaluation of the feasibility and parental attitudes towards a hearing screening programme using evoked otoacoustic emissions, implemented in a maternity ward in France.

Methods: A hearing screening test using transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) was proposed to each baby, and an anonymous questionnaire was given to parents to assess their attitudes towards the screening procedure.

Results: Although the refusal of the test reached 16% (mainly during the first two weeks of the program), more than 92% of parents judged the test as being useful, and 65% wished it to be systematically done. However, nearly 35% of parents admitted to have a low level anxiety about being unnecessarily worried by the test results. One hundred and twenty-four babies were screened. Fifty three per cent of the tests have been performed in less than ten minutes, with an average of 12.2 minutes. This duration does not include delays due to programme and babies management. False positive rate (uni or bilateral fail) was 10.5% at the first stage. Repeating the test before discharge decreased the false positive rate to 6.5%.

Conclusion: Although limited in time, this study shows that a systematic hearing screening programme using TEOAE is possible and should be done in France. False positive rate was below 7%, and the test was considered as useful by more than 90% of parents, although knowledge about deafness in childhood and its consequences were clearly insufficient.