Newborn hearing screening shows “pass”, does not mean normal hearing

  Currently, most newborn hearing screenings are done by otoacoustic emission screening. Since otoacoustic emission is mainly used to check the functional status of the outer hair cells of the inner ear, it does not fully reflect the function of the cochlea and the posterior cochlear auditory nerve pathway. Therefore, otoacoustic emissions and automatic auditory brainstem responses are currently considered to be effective hearing screening techniques and methods. When otoacoustic emissions show a “pass” and automatic auditory brainstem response shows a “fail”, the possibility of auditory neuropathy cannot be completely ruled out. If a hearing screening test is performed using otoacoustic emission alone, even if the test results are “pass”, it is important to be alert to the presence of auditory neuropathy because it is possible that the child with auditory neuropathy has been missed. It has been shown that in infants and children with auditory neuropathy, the auditory brainstem response is maximal and the output is non-responsive. 60% to 70% of the otoacoustic emissions can be recorded, which means that the otoacoustic emission screening shows a “pass”.  Secondly, not all hereditary deafness occurs at birth, but some of them develop deafness in childhood or even in adulthood. Therefore, some infants and children who have passed the hearing screening but have risk indicators for hearing impairment or delayed speech-language development, such as a family history of deafness, hypoxia at birth, etc., have a higher incidence of hearing impairment or speech-language These infants have a higher incidence of hearing impairment or speech-language pathology. Therefore, these newborns with high risk factors should be followed up every 6 months for 3 years, even after screening, in conjunction with audiological behavioral observations. Continuous audiological and medical monitoring, as well as developmental monitoring of communication skills, should be done. This allows for early detection of possible hearing impairment in the child.