Lifetime influence on the evaluation of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions in newborns

Abstract

The transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOET) have been the most used procedure in the newborn hearing screening programs. It is recommended that the newborn hearing screening be carried out prior to hospital discharge, so as to achieve the highest number of newborns screened. Nevertheless, in this period, the possibility of vernix in the external auditory duct and/or middle ear, may contribute to the increase in no pass results in the newborn hearing screening programs. The aim of this study was to check the correlation between no pass results in the newborn hearing screening carried out before hospital discharge and the life time. 261 newborns, which were screened between 24 and 54 hours of life, who passed in the auditory screening test prior to hospital discharge or in the retest participated of the test. The results demonstrated no pass result in the test newborn auditory screening carried out before hospital discharge were similar regardless of lifetime of the newborn and the kind of childbirth. Thus, this work shows that the newborn hearing screening must be carried out prior to hospital discharge, owing to the difficulties that parents may have to attend the appointments, a fact related to economic and cultural aspects.