[Investigation of automated infant auditory screening using the Natus-ALGO Portable device]

The aim of this study was to compare the Natus-ALGO Portable (Portable) device with the Natus-ALGO 2e and to evaluate its usefulness. Portable, an automated ABR screener (Natus Medical, Foster City, CA, USA) was used to screen 826 neonates in our hospital between February 2002 and March 2003. The referral rate for the first automated ABR screening was 0.85% while that for the second was 0.48%. Hearing impairment was detected in 0.24% of all newborns. The mean duration of the automated ABR test was 2 minutes, 45 seconds. The referral rate and mean test duration of the Portable device was equivalent to that of the Natus-ALGO 2e. We concluded that the Portable device is a useful tool in view of its low cost and portability. Among those who passed the Portable screening, the number of sweeps in the neonatal intensive care unit was significantly greater than that in the maternity ward. Careful estimation of REFER in neonatal intensive care units is important because the incidence of positive fails in the neonatal intensive care unit was much higher than that in the maternity ward. The number of sweeps performed in neonates between the ages of 2 to 6 days was not significantly different.