Hearing screening in healthy newborns: feasibility of different methods with regard to test time

Clicked-evoked otoacoustic emissions and automated auditory brainstem response are both considered appropriate hearing screening tools. The aim of this study was to compare their practicability with respect to test duration. In the first part of the study, clicked-evoked otoacoustic emissions were recorded in 388 healthy infants on the newborn ward in the first days of life. To reduce false positive rates of screening, clicked-evoked otoacoustic emissions combined with automated auditory brainstem response measurement (A-ABR, Algo 1E and Algo 2) were used in a second investigation. Fifty-five newborns screened by this two-stage method recorded an increased pass rate. The new digital technique of automated auditory brainstem response measurement (Algo 1E and Algo 2) employed in the second part of the study has a test time even shorter than that of clicked-evoked otoacoustic emissions and is no longer a time-consuming test due to improved technology of the second generation of automated auditory brainstem response equipment. Screening including preparation and follow-up time took 9.43 min (Algo 1E) and 8.26 min (Algo 2) respectively and was thus less time-consuming than reported in former studies.