Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening

Newborn hearing screening program (NHSP) is a standard of care in many countries around the world. Its success to a great extent depends on professionals understanding of the program’s goals and the screening procedures. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of Malaysian healthcare professionals involved in NHSP. A cross-sectional survey study using a 25 items questionnaire was conducted on a purposive sample of healthcare professionals who worked in 30 Malaysian government hospitals that run NHSP. Four hundred and three questionnaires were distributed, only 138 completed questionnaires were analysed, yielding a response rate of 34.2%. Of the 138 healthcare professionals, 35 (25.4%) were paediatricians, 43 (31.2%) were ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, and 60 (43.5%) were nurses. In general, the study revealed that the ENT specialists scored significantly higher that the paediatricians and nurses on both knowledge and attitude. Although the majority of all three healthcare professionals (>75%) viewed NHSP as very important, yet many nurses and paediatricians (>70%) reported received limited information during their training in this area and felt uncomfortable in explaining about the whole hearing screening process to the parents. Despite the positive attitude towards NHSP, 22.5% of the healthcare professionals were not aware of the existence of the program. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated knowledge gap in NHSP among the healthcare professionals, but their positive attitudes could be an indication of a strong interest to learn more about NHSP. Therefore, there is a need to take urgent efforts to improve the knowledge of healthcare professionals on NHSP.
knowledge ; attitude ; healthcare professionals ; newborn hearing screening

Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Hearing Tests ; Neonatal Screening ; China ; Hearing

Many features of transiently evoked otoacoustic emission(TEOE) are ideal for clinical use, including their ability to objectively measure cochlear function. TEOE can be used to accurately and efficiently screen for identification of neonatal hearing impairment. The purposes of this study are to provide the reference value of neonatal screening parameters, to evaluate the incidence and etiolgies of neonatal hearing loss, and to confirm the efficacy of neonatal screening. Data were collected from 1145 neonate subjects, the majority of whom is around 30 days of age. Reference values of TEOE are issued. Nine neonates proved to have sensorineural hearing loss of greater than moderate degree. Five of them had high risk factors of neonatal sensorineural hearing loss(SNHL), whereas other four did not. This study reconfirmed neonatal screening with TEOE is a valuable tool for early detection of the babies with SNHL. The babies with high risk factors have higher risk of SNHL(3.4%) than those without risk factors(0.4%). The baby without risk factors occupied some proportion of the babies with SNHL, which implies the necessity of TEOE screening in all neonates.
Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn* ; Mass Screening* ; Neonatal Screening ; Reference Values ; Risk Factors

Hearing Tests ; Hong Kong ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening

Congresses as Topic ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening

Congresses as Topic ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening

China ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening

Female ; Hearing Disorders ; etiology ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Neonatal Screening ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) have been used as a screening test for early detection of hearing loss in newborns and infants, because most of the normal hearing show TEOAEs. But the lack of understanding about the properties of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) has limited their usefulness on the clinical basis. This study was designed with the purpose to find out the properties of SOAEs and their correlation with TEOAEs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TEOAE and SOAE tests were performed in 95 neonates (190 ears, male:female=47:48) of well baby clinic in DKUH. RESULTS: 1) The prevalence of SOAEs were 86.8% (165/190 ears):87.2% (82/94 ears) in male and 86.5% (83/96 ears) in female, 91% (86/95 ears) in the right ears and 83% (75/95 ears) in the left ears. 2) The number of peaks in SOAEs was 4.14+/-1.92 overally, 4.38+/-2.01 in right ears, 3.87+/-1.79 in left ears, and 4.34+/-1.95 in males and 3.94+/-1.88 in females. There was a significant difference between the right and the left ears. 3) The level of SOAEs was -18.4 to 22.6 dB SPL. The highest amplitude of SOAEs in each subject was 3.69+/-8.87 dB SPL. 4) The SOAE frequency was mainly between 1000 Hz and 4000 Hz, and most frequently between 3000 Hz and 4000 Hz. The mean frequency of the highest amplitude of SOAE was 2907+/-1092 Hz. 5) The highest amplitude of SOAE was correlated with the overall response amplitude of TEOAE (r=0.619, p<0.01), but not the number of peaks (r=0.086, p=0.272). CONCLUSION: Neonates have robust SOAEs, which correlated with their TEOAEs.
Ear ; Female ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous ; Prevalence