International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
Volume 59, Issue 2 , Pages 99-104, 14 June 2001

Evolution of a universal infant hearing screening program in an inner city hospital

Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Suite 601, 720 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118, USA

Received 28 November 2000; received in revised form 20 February 2001; accepted 6 March 2001.

Abstract 

This study reports the evolution of a newborn hearing screening program which began in 1988. Data are reported from the period of time that universal newborn hearing screening was initiated, i.e. April 1996 to December 2000 (total screened=7128 babies). From 1996 to the present, the program has developed to the current form. During 2000, 1713 infants in the well-baby nursery and neonatal intensive care unit were screened at a cost of $18.44 per child. Thirty (1.7%) infants failed the screen, of which 26 (86%) returned for follow-up testing. Fifteen infants were documented with hearing loss, 10 with conductive and five with sensorineural losses. The false positive rate was 0.96% and the overall sensorineural impairment rate was 1/343.

Keywords:  Auditory brainstem response (ABR), Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS)

Abbreviations:  ABR, auditory brainstem response, OAEs, otoacoustic emissions, UNHS, universal newborn hearing screening

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PII: S0165-5876(01)00462-1

International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
Volume 59, Issue 2 , Pages 99-104, 14 June 2001