Screening For Hearing Impairment Research Articles

Using equipment in unfamiliar clinical settings: Audiology screening

M ANY PEDIATRIC nurses previously comfortable with the hospital as the clinical practice setting are making the transition to the community as the work place. As a result, equipment used is unfamiliar to pediatric nurses acquiring new assessment skills. One example is the audiometry equipment used for hearing screening of school-aged children. The incidence of heating impaired newborns is estimated between 1.5 and 6.0 per 1000 live births (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1997). The child with poor hearing is at risk for major speech and language development, which affects the entire spectrum of their education and socialization (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1993). It is of paramount importance to detect hearing impaired children early to treat the hearing loss and any associated conditions, to prevent further loss, and to provide for special needs. The pediatric nurse assumes an important role in the screening for hearing impairment. Hearing testing lends itself to the situation of most school nurses where they can only screen a few children at a time in spare moments. The principles of screening are not difficult to learn and are easily reviewed before entering a testing situation. The machines for testing hearing, called audiometers, are not particularly expensive and share most features with each other. General screening principles are aimed at reducing variables and following a consistent procedure to arrive at reproducible results. Environmental variables are multiple and include ambient noise, visual distractions and uncomfortable extremes of a hot or cold room. The children themselves must be reassured, instructed, and made comfortable. The examiner should also be free of distractions, willing to adhere to protocol, and be familiar with the audiometer being used. AUDIOMETERS

Early Detection of Hearing Impairment in Japan

Screening for hearing impairment in babies and young children in Japan is the responsibility of each administrative district and as such there is considerable variation in the methods and applications across districts. Every child who is resident in a particular district is given a registration card which must go with them to their medical examinations at six months, eighteen months and three years of age. Hearing screening depends chiefly on a questionnaire concerning the development of first words and the state of hearing. This paper first describes the Japanese system of medical examinations. Then the paper reports the results of Tokushima Prefecture where all children are screened for hearing impairment at 18 months of age. In Tokushima Prefecture teachers from the local school for the deaf administer the 18 month old screen in co‐operation with public health nurses. As a result of this screen the average age of diagnosis of hearing impairment reduced from 2.1 years of age to 1.2 years of age. Screeni...

Screening for neonatal and infant deafness in Europe in 1992

Many methods of screening for hearing impairment are available. The aim of our study was to determine which ones were really used in 1992. At the request of the British Audiology Society, we conducted an inquiry into the organization of screening for deafness in neonates and infants in Europe. In practice all 6–9 month-old infants are tested with behavioural tests in every country. For the neonates, generally only those at risk for hearing-impairment (about 5%) were tested. The most widely used tests were behavioural ones. Only specialized centers used transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs). This last test assesses the active mechanical properties of the cochlea and allows detection of even mild or unilateral sensorineural deafness.

Hearing impairment screening

All infants should be screened for hearing impairment, according to a 15-member expert panel. The panel based its decision on recent advances in technology that have improved screening methods and that enable identification of hearing impairments in infants soon after birth. This recommendation was made in a report by a panel of experts who considered scientific evidence presented at a Consensus Development Conference at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Screening for hearing impairment

Screening for hearing impairment

Application of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions to Pediatric Populations

Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) occur after presentation of brief acoustic stimuli such as clicks and tone pips. They represent physiological activity from within the cochlea, specifically from normal functioning outer hair cells. TEOAEs are frequency specific in that their spectra are determined by the spectra of the evoking stimulus and the audiometric configuration. TEOAEs are sensitive to mild to moderate degrees of cochlear hearing loss up to about 40 to 50 dB HL. They can be measured rapidly and noninvasively in infants and children. Among the potential applications in pediatric audiology are screening for hearing impairment in neonates, separating peripheral hearing loss and central auditory dysfunction, and monitoring cochlear status in children receiving ototoxic drugs.

Hearing loss in the elderly. A survey in general practice.

To determine the prevalence of undiagnosed hearing impairment in people aged 60 years or over in a general practice setting. A self-administered questionnaire followed by physical examination and audiometry. A group general practice in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin. Two hundred and one people aged 60 years or over who were not known to be hearing impaired. Results of air-conduction audiometry. Seventy-five of the 201 people had undiagnosed hearing loss (37%). The assessments of hearing ability by the patients and their relations were good predictors of the outcome of the audiogram (P < 0.001). Occupational history, medical history and physical examination were poor predictors (P > 0.05). The use of audiometry for screening for hearing impairment in older general practice patients is likely to have a high yield. A large proportion of people with abnormal audiograms will, however, refuse a hearing aid.

Screening of hearing impairment in the newborn using the auditory response cradle.

The Auditory Response Cradle (ARC) is a fully automated microprocessor controlled machine that was designed for the hearing screening of full term neonates. In order to evaluate the ARC, 6000 babies were screened at a district maternity hospital over a period of three years. Every infant subsequently entered a three year follow up programme. One hundred and two babies (1.7%) failed the ARC screen (that is, they failed two ARC tests) and 20 of these were found to have some hearing impairment: in 10 it was severe (80-90 dBHL), in seven moderate (45-60 dBHL), and in three it was mild to moderate (less than 45 dBHL). In addition, of the 20 babies who failed a first test and were discharged before a second could be performed, two were confirmed to have a severe hearing loss; 79 infants failing the screen were cleared on further testing, giving the ARC a false positive rate of 1.3%. On following up all 6000 infants for three years, seven children who passed the neonatal screen were subsequently found to have a hearing loss. For two babies the aetiology was unknown but for five the hearing impairment was either due to a hereditary progressive loss or definite postnatal factors. Progressive and acquired hearing losses cannot be detected at a neonatal screen and this emphasises the need for follow up screens at other stages in the child's life. In this long term study the ARC has been found to have a high detection rate for severe hearing loss and confirms the practical possibility of using a behavioural technique for the universal screening of hearing in neonates.

Review: Screening for hearing impairment in elderly patients is useful

Source Citation Mulrow CD, Lichtenstein MJ. Screening for hearing impairment in the elderly. Rationale and strategy. J Gen Intern Med. 1991 May/Jun;6:249-58.2066832

Screening for hearing impairment in the elderly

Screening for hearing impairment in the elderly

Evaluation of click-evoked oto-acoustic emissions in the newborn

Click-evoked oto-acoustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses (ABR) have been recorded in 723 babies taken largely from a neonatal intensive care unit to evaluate the use of oto-acoustic emissions as a method of screening for hearing impairment. Twenty-nine infants failed to pass the initial ABR test and repeat ABR tests carried out up to the age of 3 months. The 'sensitivity' and 'specificity' of the oto-acoustic emission test for the ABR test results up to 3 months of age in surviving infants were 93% and 84% respectively. It is proposed that click-evoked oto-acoustic emissions be considered as the initial method to screen for hearing impairment, test failures being followed up by ABR.

Screening for Hearing Impairment in Infants and Young Children

Screening for Hearing Impairment in Infants and Young Children

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Encyclopaedia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of the Handicapped and Other Exceptional Children and Adults, C.R. Reynolds, L. Mann (eds.) The Hearing Impaired ‐ Birth to Six, June Grant Handwriting: Theory, Research and Practice, Jean Alston, Jane Taylor Integration of Developmentally Disabled Individuals into the Community (2nd ed), L.W. Heal, J.I. Haney, A.R. Novak Amado Screening for Hearing Impairment in Young Children, Barry McCormick School Discipline: a whole‐school approach, Chris Watkins, Patsy Wagner Enhancing Self‐esteem in the Classroom, Denis Lawrence

Book reviews : Screening for hearing impairment in young children Barry McCormick Beckenham: Croom Helm, 1988. x+110 pp

Book reviews : Screening for hearing impairment in young children Barry McCormick Beckenham: Croom Helm, 1988. x+110 pp

Screening for Impaired Hearing in the Elderly-Reply

In Reply. — We welcome the comments from Macphee et al regarding the use of free field voice testing for hearing impairment in the elderly. However, the studies they cite do not support their contention that free field voice testing is favorably comparable with the Welch-Allyn audioscope in screening for hearing impairment. There are two main methodological points that must be considered. First, the study sites and populations are substantially different. We tested the audioscope in the offices of primary care physicians, screening patients without regard for audiological symptoms. The study of free field voice testing by Swan and Browning 1 was conducted in an audiology clinic in a younger age group. Here subjects had been referred for audiological symptoms—under these circumstances, a spectrum bias 2 might inflate the sensitivity and specificity of the test. The study by Macphee et al 3 was conducted in a geriatric inpatient unit. Presumably

Screening for Hearing Impairment in Young Children

Screening for Hearing Impairment in Young Children

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this articles: Primary Nursing — Nursing in the Burford and Oxford Nursing Development Units by Alan Pearson. Screening for Hearing Impairment in Young Children by Barry McCormick. Working with Uncertainty by Hilary Dixon &amp; Peter Gordon. Families and Psychosocial Problems edited by Maureen Leahey &amp; Lorraine M. Wright. The Stream of Becoming: A Study of Martha Rogers's Theory by Barbara Sarter. Outcome Measures in Home Care. Volume I: Research Editor L. T. Rinke Mayes' Midwifery. A Textbook for Midwives, 11th edn by Betty R. Sweet. Pain Control by Jane Latham. Communicating with Dying People and Their Relatives by Jean Lugton. Coronary Heart Disease Risks and Reasons by A. G. Shaper.

Screening for Hearing Impairment in Young Children

Screening for Hearing Impairment in Young Children

Screening for Hearing-impairment in Young Children

Screening for Hearing-impairment in Young Children

Screening for hearing impairment in the new-born

Screening for hearing impairment in the new-born