ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Otorinolaringologia 2020 June;70(2):34-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-6621.20.02249-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Newborn hearing screening: a 5-year experience in 7936 patients

Federica GIAMMONA INDACO ¹ ✉, Norma ROSATI ², Sara CISTERNINO ¹, Marianna ALBESANO ¹, Alberto EIBENSTEIN ¹

¹ Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy; ² Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Casa di Cura Città di Roma, Rome, Italy

BACKGROUND: Hearing impairment is the most common sensory disorder in the world and deafness is the most frequent disability in children. Hearing loss (HL) can lead to alterations in language development and communication disorders. The early diagnosis of HL and the assessment of intervention programs in the first 3-12 months of life are made possible by the newborn hearing screening with transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE).
METHODS: This study was conducted in the Neonatal Unit of “Casa di Cura Città di Roma” from May 2013 to April 2018. TEOAE were bilaterally evaluated in 7936 newborns 24-48 hours after birth.
RESULTS: In our neonatology department 7936 newborns were screened with TOAE and 554 babies were sent to the second level audiologic center for hearing assessment. The interview of these families was made to verify the adhesion to the program and the result was that 266 babies did not complete the second and third level tests of the audiologic screening program.
CONCLUSIONS: TEOAE can be easily performed in the birth centers and are now mandatory all over Italy but the lack of adhesion to the complete audiologic assessment can be translated into a high percentage of babies with the risk of a delayed diagnosis. The causes of this huge drop-out must be studied but it is clear that the awareness level about hearing problems is still low in the general population.

KEY WORDS: Hearing loss; Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions; Mass screening