A review of the effectiveness of otoacoustic emissions for evaluating hearing status after newborn screening.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to give a brief review of the effectiveness of otoacoustic emissions for getting frequency-specific information about a hearing-loss problem in newborns after hearing screening. Especially, the advantages of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) over transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) are described.

DATA SOURCES: Approximately 186 ears of 104 children aged between 76 days and 15 years and 436 ears of adults with normal hearing and sensory hearing loss.

METHODS

Extrapolated DPOAE I/O-functions at frequencies between 1.5 and 6 kHz were obtained in the children for assessing the hearing loss and for differentiating between a transitory sound-conductive hearing loss and a persisting cochlear hearing loss. For getting information on the test time needed, measurements were performed in the adult patients.

RESULTS

DPOAE thresholds derived from extrapolated DPOAE I/O-functions (DPOAE audiograms) are closely related to behavior audiometric thresholds and can be used for determining characteristic quantities of the cochlear-impaired ear. A DPOAE audiogram can be obtained in a couple of minutes. DPOAE audiograms are able to reveal a transitory sound-conductive hearing loss because of Eustachian tube dysfunction and/or amniotic fluid in the tympanic cavity or to confirm a persisting cochlear hearing loss because of outer hair cell impairment in babies with a reference result in newborn hearing screening.

CONCLUSION

DPOAE audiograms provide a tool for a fast automated frequency-specific and quantitative evaluation of a mild or moderate hearing in follow-up diagnosis.