Newborn hearing screening by otoacoustic emissions and automated auditory brainstem response

The aim of this study is to compare pass rates for two different hearing screening methods in well newborns as a function of age. Hearing screening tests were performed on 400 ears in 200 healthy newborn infants at the University of California-Irvine Medical Center. The screening methods used were automated auditory brainstem response (ABR) and click evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE). The infants' ages ranged from 5 to 120 h, with an average age of 24 h. Overall, 88.5% of ears passed the ABR screen, and 79% passed the EOAE screen. There was no significant difference in the ABR pass rate for infants aged 0-24 h of age as compared with infants aged > 24 h. However, the EOAE pass rate improved significantly in infants > 24 h compared with the group aged 0-24 h (P < 0.01). Results are compared with earlier studies and implications for universal hearing screening are discussed.