The Prevalence of Deafness and Hearing Screening in Newborns in Isfahan, Iran

Neonatal hearing screening test is an early intervention for identification of hearing loss, deafness, and sensorineural impairment. Pediatric diagnosis of audiology needs different tests to collect the required information. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) are among the main hearing screening tests. It shows cochlear outer hair cells activity that causes the most important infant hearing loss. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects diagnosing neonatal hearing impairment and referring patients to receive appropriate interventions to prevent language and speech impairments. In a cross-sectional study in Baharestan Hospital (Isfahan, Iran), 1232 neonates, born during 2008-10, were screened with TEOAEs before age of one month. Neonates with failed tests were then referred to an audiologist. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS. In this study, the prevalence of hearing impairment was 4.8 per 1000 live births that is close to previous international studies. Among the neonates with negative test results, 50% had no risk factors while the other 50% had risk factors including positive family history of hearing loss, meningitis, prematurity, and prolonged mechanical ventilation. According to the calculated prevalence of hearing impairment in this study (4.8 in 1000 live births) and considering the importance of hearing in language and speaking development and lack of suspicion to infant hearing loss by parents, more research is required to assess the practice of neonatal universal hearing screening in the related centers in Iran.