Do you routinely screen your NICU graduates for hearing? At what age do you do so? Who are the candidates for such screening? In case of abnormal screen what is your action plan?

Could you kindly share your views.

This may be informative:

http://www.jcih.org/posstatemts.htm

Hi! In hospitals I have worked (i.e. in Stockholm) all infants (on the maternity wards / in the NICU) have been screened per the same protocol, with Oto-acustic emissions (OAE) after 24 h of age. Preterm infants from the NICU is screened at term/before discharge.

If the OAE is pathological, the investigation is repeated typically within 24-48 hours. If a pathological response is persisting, the infant is referred for further audiological evaulation and auditory brainstem responses (ABR) are controlled.

I am not an expert but OAE seems to give rather few false positive (pathological) responses. The investigation is done by a nurse assistant Mon-Fri.

Hi

Yes all infants are screened. We use the international criteria for screening ie who gets OAE or OAE with ABR. All infants are screened prior to discharge