Hearing screening in 3143 newborns

Objective To explore the hearing screening process and the incidence of hearing impairment in neonates. Methods We conducted screening for 3413 neonates born in our hospital. The initial screening was performed between postnatal 1-5 days. Neonates who failed initial screening were checked again on the postnatal day 42, those who still failed to pass the investigation underwent definitive hearing assessment by the third postnatal month. Results Out of 3143 newborns, 2594 passed the preliminary hearing screening, the pass rate was 82.53%. Five hundred and forty-nine neonates failed the initial screening, the fail rate was 17.47%. The false-positive rate in the initial screening is 17.1.%. The incidences of hearing impairment in the normal neonates and in the high risk infants were 1.9‰ and 7.09‰, respectively. The overall incidence of hearing impairment in 3143 neonates was 2.23‰. Conclusion Through hearing screening we can early identify hearing loss in neonates and appropriate medical consultation, intervention and therapy can be carry out as early as possible.