Open AccessInfant hearing screening: a comparison of two techniques
Author(s) -
Winton Anne,
Smyth Veronica,
Kei Joseph,
McPherson Bradley,
Latham Simon,
Loscher Jennifer
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-842x.1998.tb01185.x
Subject(s) - hearing loss , audiology , medicine , otoacoustic emission , screening test , hearing aid , rehabilitation , pediatrics , physical therapy
Hearing screening programs for Australian children are known to have poor coverage in many areas. In addition, only a minority of children are screened for hearing loss before 2 years of age. However, early detection of hearing loss and early treatment are generally considered very important to successful rehabilitation outcomes. Traditional methods of screening infants have limitations with their accuracy in detecting children with hearing loss. This study compared the results obtained with a traditional questionnaire approach to screening and a newer objective technique involving otoacoustic emission measures. Poor correlation was found between pass rates for the two techniques, suggesting that the questionnaire approach is not an accurate screening method for detecting infant hearing loss. With further development, otoacoustic emission testing holds promise as an objective alternative hearing screening procedure.