Is it useful to repeat the hearing screening test before hospital discharge?

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Audiology
• Public health

Background:

• Universal newborn hearing screening is vital for early detection of congenital hearing loss.
• Initial screening using otoacoustic emissions (OAE) can yield false positives due to transient factors.
• Minimizing false referrals is crucial for effective newborn hearing screening programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of a repeat OAE screening before hospital discharge for neonates without hearing risk factors who initially failed the screening.
• To determine if a second OAE test can accurately identify infants with genuine hearing loss versus transient issues.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 2,667 neonates without hearing-risk factors was conducted.
• Infants with an initial 'refer' result on OAE screening underwent a repeat test before hospital discharge.
• Data collected included initial OAE results, repeat OAE results, and final pass rates.

Main Results:

• 29.65% of neonates initially referred on OAE-1.
• 93% of those who referred underwent a repeat OAE test (OAE-2).
• 91% of infants who repeated the OAE test achieved a pass, with an overall pass rate of 95.46% by discharge.

Conclusions:

• A second OAE hearing screening before hospital discharge is beneficial for infants who initially referred.
• This strategy enhances the accuracy of hearing loss detection.
• It effectively reduces parental anxiety and minimizes unnecessary referrals, improving follow-up adherence.