Using otoacoustic emissions to screen for hearing loss in early childhood care settings.

Objective: Until recently, no objective tool has been available to help health and early childhood education providers screen young children for hearing loss. The aim of this study was to screen underserved children
Methods: A total of 4,519 children,
Results: Of the 4,519 children screened as a part of the study, 257 (6%) ultimately required medical or audiological follow-up. One hundred and seven children were identified as having a hearing loss or disorder of the outer, middle or inner ear requiring treatment or monitoring. Of these 107 children, 5 had permanent bilateral and 2 had permanent unilateral hearing loss. The seven children with permanent hearing loss included four who had passed newborn screening, two who were not screened at birth and one who did not receive follow-up services after referring from newborn screening.

Conclusions: OAE screening, using a multi-step protocol, was found to be a feasible and accurate practice for identifying a wide range of hearing-health conditions warranting monitoring and treatment among children

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2007.12.006	DOI Listing