Preschool hearing screening: evaluation of a parental questionnaire.

Objective: To evaluate the validity of a parental questionnaire used to screen preschool children for persistent hearing impairment.

Methodology: Six-hundred and eighty-five children aged 4-5 years from a Metropolitan area of Adelaide, Australia, were enrolled. Each parent completed a questionnaire aimed at detecting parental concerns about hearing impairment. Screening audiometry was then performed. Children who failed the initial audiometry screening underwent repeat audiometry screening 6-8 weeks later. The audiometry and questionnaire data were then compared.

Results: Of the 657 children who successfully completed initial audiometry, 544 (83%) passed and 113 (17%) failed. Of the 84 children who had follow-up audiometry, 64 (76%) passed. Parental concerns were identified on questionnaire in 50% of all children. Neither individual questions nor the number of concerns were found to relate to audiometry results. Compared with audiometry results, the hearing screening questionnaire had a sensitivity of 56% and specificity of 52%.

Conclusions: The hearing questionnaire used in this study and in several Australian states is an ineffective screening test for detecting persistent hearing loss.