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Hearing thresholds in four-year-old children with weak or no transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions
J Grenner1, B Tideholm, I Hinriksdóttir
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.
Insights
Transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) can identify hearing loss in 4-year-olds but are too sensitive for single-test screening. TEOAEs show promise as a first-line hearing screening method.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric audiology
- Developmental screening
Background:
- Play audiometry is a standard developmental screening for 4-year-olds in Malmö, Sweden.
- Hearing loss detection in young children is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) as an efficient screening method for hearing loss in 4-year-old children.
- To determine if TEOAEs can effectively identify hearing impairments exceeding 25 dB HL.
Main Methods:
- An open study tested 295 children with TEOAEs using the ILO88 system.
- Audiometry was performed on 160 children, with TEOAEs used to pre-screen.
- Children with strong TEOAEs (≥ 10 dB SPL) in both ears did not undergo audiometry.
Main Results:
- All ears with TEOAEs ≥ 8.8 dB SPL had audiometric pure-tone averages (PTA) of 25 dB HL or better.
- Twenty-one percent of ears showed TEOAEs ≤ 0 dB SPL.
- Only 9% of ears had a hearing threshold exceeding 25 dB HL (PTA).
Conclusions:
- TEOAEs yielded a higher number of pathological results compared to audiograms, indicating high sensitivity.
- TEOAEs are currently too sensitive for use as a standalone screening test.
- TEOAEs show potential as an initial step in a multi-stage hearing screening process.
Abstract:
Play audiometry is part of the general developmental screening covering 4-year-old children in the city of Malmö (Sweden). In an open study, 10% of the cohort was tested with transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), using the ILO88 system. The aim was to reveal a hearing loss exceeding 25 dB HL in 4-year-old children. As the first step in determining whether emissions can be used as an efficient method of screening for hearing loss, 295 children were tested with TEOAEs. Audiometry was performed in 160 children. Audiometry was not performed if the TEOAEs were strong (> or = 10 dB SPL) in both ears. In the group with TEOAEs of 8.8dB SPL or greater, all ears tested with audiometry had a pure-tone average (PTA) of 25 dB HL or better. Twenty-one percent of the ears had TEOAEs < or = 0 dB SPL. Only 9% of the ears had a hearing threshold exceeding 25 dB HL (PTA). In conclusions, the number of pathological TEOAE results was much larger than the number of pathological audiograms, making TEOAEs too sensitive to use as a single screening test, but the method may be used as first-line screening.
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