Comparative Analysis of Transient Otoacoustic Emission in At-Risk and Well Neonates

Abstract

Objectives:

(1) Describe the referral rate of hearing loss in well and at-risk neonates as assessed with transient otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) audiometry. (2) Analyze the association between risk factors for hearing loss and TEOAE referrals.

Methods:

This was a 2-staged cross-sectional evaluation of hearing loss among 386 neonates; 276 well babies without any risk factors and 110 babies with at least 1 risk factor at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Data were collected from January 2010 to April 2010. Their ears were evaluated for presence of TEOAE with wideband click of 80-microseconds’ duration at 6 frequencies within 1.5-kHz to 4-kHz at 83 dB pe SPL (±3). Results were automatically displayed as pass or refer. Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to determine the association between the risk factors and hearing loss. The level of significance was P < .05.

Results:

The overall referral rate with TEOAE was 8.5%, 5.2% among the at-risk and 3.3% for those not at-risk (P = .001). The following risk factors were found to be significant with a referral outcome with TEOAE; prematurity (P = .001), multiple births (P = .030), jaundice (P = .001), and birth weight less than 1.5 kg (P = .003). Logistic regression showed that prematurity was a significant predictor of hearing screening outcome with TEOAE (P = .017).

Conclusions:

This study demonstrated that the prevalence of congenital hearing loss in newborns is high in our environment and those at-risk have a higher probability of developing hearing loss.