Feasibility of neonatal hearing screening program with two-stage transient otoacoustic emissions in Turkey

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of hearing loss in neonates and evaluate the feasibility of a two-stage Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emission (TEOAE) screening test. Maternal concerns about hearing screening were also studied. Methods: Neonatal intensive care patients and well babies were screened using a two-stage TEOAE test, which was followed by an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test for those babies who failed the first test twice. Results: In total, 711 neonates were screened. At the end of the two TEOAE tests, the cumulative pass rate was 99.3% and false-positive rate was 0.3%. Five neonates (0.7%) were referred for the ABR test. Sensorineural hearing loss was found in three of them (0.4%). Of these three neonates, one was from the well baby nursery and two were from the NICU population. Families generally welcomed the screening program, with no refusals. Positive test results have not caused important maternal concerns. Conclusions: Congenital hearing impairment is a prevalent disease in Turkey. The two-stage TEOAE program is suitable for the neonatal hearing screening program. In general, hearing screening tests do not cause notable maternal concerns.