The prevalence of auditory neuropathy in students with hearing impairment in Tehran, Iran

Auditory neuropathy is defined as a sensorineural hearing loss characterized by normal cochlear hair cell function and absent or abnormal auditory brainstem evoked potentials. These people can hear the sound but can not understand it. They have neural hearing loss and the auditory rehabilitation approach for these people may be different from those who have sensorineural hearing loss. Therefore, screening of auditory neuropathy among hearing impaired students is essential. The prevalence of auditory neuropathy among the students with hearing impairment in specific schools for them was the objective of the current research. From 2002 through 2003, 841 hearing impaired students, aged 2 - 20 years, underwent a complete history taking, clinical examination, and audiometry. We found 13 students with auditory neuropathy who comprised 1.55% (CI 95%: 0.71 - 2.38%) of the students with hearing impairment. We suggest that a complete panel of audiological tests for detection of auditory neuropathy be performed before admission of students with hearing impairment to schools.