Methodological factors involved in neonatal screening using transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions and automated auditory brainstem response testing.

The methodological factors involved in screening neonates for hearing loss, using transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and automated auditory brainstem responses, have been evaluated from a large sample of neonates. The risk factors, commonly used to select babies for a targeted screen, have very little correlation with failing TEOAE testing. The parameters used to determine passing or failing the TEOAE test and the false alarm rate change markedly with age in the first few days of life as, of course, did the percentage of babies who failed the test. The stimulus level used was the default setting for the Otodynamics equipment but the stimulus level measured in the ear canal decreased over the first 140 h of life. It is thought that this reflects the impedance changes in outer and middle ears and possible changes in middle ear dynamics. The methodological variables investigated here can illuminate some of the differences in previous reports of neonatal screening, in particular the reported hit and false alarm rates.