TITLE:
Neonatal Hearing Screening Using Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission in a Sub-Urban Population in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Moronke D. Akinola, Paul A. Onakoya, Olukemi Tongo, Akeem O. Lasisi
KEYWORDS:
Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission, Neonates, Screening, Risk Factors
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.3 No.4,
July
30,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objective: To determine the
proportion of neonates with referral result on testing with transient evoked otoacoustic
emission (TEOAE) and the associated risk factors. Method: Prospective evaluation
of all neonates born in the Hospital within 6 months using the TEOAE. A
hand-held Etymotic Research Otoacoustic Emission Scanner (Ero-scan Combo) was
used with the child sleeping in the cot or the mother’s hand. Right and left
ears were tested separately and the result was displayed automatically as “pass”
when 100% of the in-built criteria were met and “refer” if otherwise. The
subjects that passed in both ears were regarded as passes, while those with a
refer in either the right/left ears or both ears were regarded as referrals and
were thus subjected to rescreening in six weeks or on discharge from the
special care baby unit. Analysis was done to find association between the
outcome of TEOAE and the clinical and epidemiological risk factors. Result: TEOAE
was carried out on 386 neonates, (194 males (50.3%) and 192 females (49.7%)).
The mean age at screening was 2.3 days (SD = 1.5), the mean gestational age was
38.0 weeks (SD = 2.7) while the mean birth weight was 2.9 kg (SD = 0.7) and the
mean Apgar score at 1 and 5 minute were 8.3 (SD = 1.0) and 9.8 (SD = 0.6). At the
first step hearing screening, referral rate was 112 (29.0%); at the second
stage, 31 (8.5%) neonates had referral in one or both ears. Fisher’s exact test
showed that prematurity, multiple births, jaundice and small birth weight were
significantly associated with a referral outcome. However, logistic regression revealed
prematurity as a significant predictor of referral outcome with a negative
predictive value of 12.61. Conclusion: The referral rate is high with
prematurity as a significant predictor. This study calls for commencement of
newborn hearing screening and strengthening of the public health measures in
the developing countries.