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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
Sensorineural hearing loss in early childhood after passing newborn hearing screening
I E C Smetsers1, N Uilenburg2, R J E Pennings3
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Radboudumc, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. iris.smetsers@radboudumc.nl.
Introduction:
The newborn hearing screening (NHS) program in the Netherlands consist of two rounds of otoacoustic emissions (OAE) and a third round of automated auditory brainstem responses (AABR). The program identifies about 200 newborns with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) annually, enabling early intervention. Nevertheless, a subgroup of patients passes the NHS but present with SNHL in early childhood.
Purpose:
To determine the number of patients diagnosed with SNHL (< 5 years) who initially passed their NHS, and characterize this group in terms of patient demographics, NHS results, hearing loss (HL) characteristics and etiology of, to identify opportunities for earlier detection.
Methods:
A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on patients (< 5 years) seen between 2014 and 2024, passed their NHS and had SNHL with an unknown cause, for which they underwent etiological diagnostics.
Results:
119 patients with 205 ears were included. Three-fourth of patients had an abnormal speech and language development (SLD). A relatively large number of ears passed in the third AABR round (36%). HL characteristics were highly variable. An etiological diagnosis was found in 74 patients (62%), most commonly a genetic cause (40%) or a cochleovestibular malformation (18%).
Conclusions:
We estimate that in the Netherlands approximately 50 patients per year present with SNHL (< 5 years) after passing their NHS, of which the majority manifest abnormal SLD. Highly variable HL characteristics and etiology make it difficult to identify them. Nevertheless, a possibility for earlier detection is a second screening for specific subgroups. No evidence of false negatives during NHS was found.
