Preliminary study: comparison of two transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) devices for newborn hearing screening

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the results obtained through two different TEOAE devices applying the same screening procedure. Materials and methods: From 2004 to 2006, a first group of 1439 newborns (group A) was evaluated with TEOAE Eclipse device and a second group of 778 newborns (group B) from 2007 to 2008 was evaluated with TEOAE AccuScreen device. For the hearing screening we applied two different three-phases protocols, one for well-babies and one for babies with audiological risk. Results: In the first phase of our protocol we obtained 9% FAIL in the group A and 4% FAIL in the group B. In the second phase were referred 15% of the group A and 2% of the group B. The ABR testing revealed one severe bilateral hearing loss and one monolateral hearing loss in the group A and one monolateral hearing loss in the group B. All three hearing impairments occurred in well-babies. Conclusion: Both the devices lead to an early detection of hearing loss in newborns and can be used for the screening procedure. In the group B we obtained fewer false positives and the number of infants lost during follow-up was smaller. The test with the AccuScreen was faster with a reduced number of FAIL responses because the effectiveness of the test was less influenced by ambient noise contamination. We strongly recommend a universal hearing screening and an effective follow-up in order to early detect a progressive or late-onset hearing impairment.