Neonatal auditory screening – essential public health measure

Abstract

Aim and objective: Our Hospital is part of the National Program VI.1.5 “Prevention of hearing impairments through neonatal screening” from 2019. This study aims to present a statistic obtained on the group of children tested by auditory screening in the period 2019-2020 in our institution. Materials and methods: Between January 2019 and October 2020, 753 children aged between 0 months and 18 months were tested in our clinic. The testing consisted in determining the presence or absence of acoustic otoemissions (TOAE) with the SERA-Interacoustics equipment. The children were examined before testing according to a standard protocol. Only children with normal otoscopy and physiological tympanogram (type A curve) were selected for further testing. The test was performed respecting the conditions of environmental quiet, the children being in natural sleep. Results: Testing the 753 children with acoustic otoemissions, we identified 20 children with profound neurosensory hearing loss, 2 children with moderate neurosensory hearing loss and 2 children with severe neurosensory hearing loss (these children did not have a diagnosis of genetic syndrome). These last 4 children received an indication for a hearing aid, while the rest (20) received an indication for a cochlear implant. Conclusions: Auditory screening is essential in the early detection of hearing loss in the newborn. The diagnosis of hearing loss made in the first year of life allows the effective rehabilitation of the child. In this way the child manages to acquire the language, to integrate in the community and to develop harmoniously from both auditory and psychoemotional point of view.