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Implementation and results of bedside hearing screening with automated auditory brainstem response in the neonatal intensive care unit
Author(s) -
Smets Koenraad,
Verrue Nele,
Dhooge Ingeborg
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2012.02736.x
Subject(s) - medicine , neonatal intensive care unit , auditory brainstem response , congenital hearing loss , hearing loss , audiology , pediatrics , intensive care , brainstem , intensive care unit , intensive care medicine , sensorineural hearing loss , psychiatry
Aim: To evaluate implementation and results of neonatal hearing screening with automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) by bedside nurses in a single‐centre neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: Retrospective review of charts of 2074 newborns admitted over a 4‐year period. Results: One thousand eight hundred and 24 newborns (88%) were screened. A ‘pass’ result was obtained in 1761 patients (96.5%). From 63 infants with ‘refer’, 40 were tested with auditory brainstem response: in 28 hearing loss was confirmed. Three hundred and nine neonates were screened before postmenstrual age (PMA) of 34 weeks: 78% successfully passed the first test. Sixty‐seven infants with ‘refer’ at the first test before PMA of 34 weeks were re‐evaluated: 48 had normal hearing tests, 24 of whom still younger than 34 weeks. For 12 of 19 infants with ‘refer’ before 34 weeks, follow‐up was available: in 7 hearing loss was confirmed. Conclusion: Neonatal hearing screening with AABR can be easily performed by the bedside nurse in the NICU even in premature babies before 34 weeks PMA. A ‘pass’ result can be obtained in almost 80% of them; a ‘refer’ result at that age, however, must be interpreted cautiously, as false ‘refer’ occurred in 5/12 of these infants.