The Crib-O-Gram in the NICU: an evaluation based on brain stem electric response audiometry

This study evaluated the Crib-O-Gram as a screening test for hearing loss in NICU infants using Brain Stem Electric Response Audiometry (BERA) as the standard. Two Crib-O-Gram tests were administered to 280 babies within 48 hours of BERA testing. An additional 26 babies received BERA and one Crib-O-Gram test. Correlation coefficients for the two Crib-O-Gram scalar scores were calculated separately for a group of preterm (31 to 37 weeks) and a group of full term and older (38 to 54 weeks) infants, with values of 0.36 and 0.52, respectively. This indicates that the Crib-O-Gram has poor reliability for a screening test, particularly for preterm babies. Approximately one-third of babies with normal BERA thresholds failed Crib-O-Gram screening. The identification of hearing loss by Crib-O-Gram increased with the severity of the loss. Crib-O-Gram was able to identify moderately severe hearing losses in full term and older babies.