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Updated: Jul 28, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
[Early detection of hearing loss in neonates by using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions]
G Trinidad Ramos1, J Pando Pinto, A Vega Cuadri
1Servicio ORL, Complejo Hospitalario Infanta Cristina, Badajoz.
Insights
Early diagnosis of infant hearing loss is crucial. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) are an effective, objective screening method for identifying hearing impairments in newborns.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Audiology
- Neonatal Screening
- Otoacoustic Emissions
Context:
- Infantile deafness has significant family and societal implications.
- Advances in auditory screening methods like otoacoustic emissions offer new diagnostic possibilities.
- Early detection is vital for mitigating the long-term effects of hearing loss.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the efficacy of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) as a universal screening tool for infantile hearing loss.
- To compare the incidence of hearing pathology in neonates with and without risk factors.
- To establish the reliability of TEOAE in conjunction with auditory evoked potentials.
Summary:
- A universal screening of 7,153 neonates was conducted using TEOAE for screening and auditory evoked potentials for diagnosis.
- Serious/profound deafness was found in 2/1000 ears, and some hearing loss in 1.39/100.
- Risk-factor neonates showed higher pathology rates: 1.8/100 for serious/profound deafness and 7.59/100 for any hearing loss.
Impact:
- Transient evoked otoacoustic emission is a reliable, objective, and rapid method for infantile auditory screening.
- Screening at hospital discharge is recommended.
- Universal screening is necessary, particularly for high-risk infants, to facilitate early intervention programs for deafness.
Objective:
A precocious diagnosis of infantile deafness is essential to avoid its implications in the family and the social and employment future of those that suffer from them. The discovery of new tests that can be used for auditory screening, such as otoacoustic emission, has opened new perspectives in this field.
Patients And Methods:
Universal screening was performed including neonates born in our area. We studied 7,153 children (296 with indicators of risk) born between 1995 and 1997. Our protocol was based on transient evoked otoacoustic emissions as the screening method and brainstem auditory evoked potentials as the diagnostic procedure.
Results:
Two out of 1000 ears studied presented serious/deep deafness and 1.39 per 100 had some type of hearing loss. The incidence of pathology was higher among ears of children with risk factors: 1.8 per 100 had serious/deep deafness and 7.59 per 100 some type of hearing loss.
Conclusions:
Transient evoked otoacoustic emission is an effective method when used in infantile auditory screening, since it is objective, bloodless and quick. Its correlation with auditory evoked potentials is very high, which proves their reliability. The best moment to perform this test (OAE) is when the discharge from the hospital is certified. We believe that universal screening is necessary, although a much higher incidence of deafness is encountered among children with risk factors. The establishment of programs for the precocious detection of infantile deafness should not be delayed.
