RESUMO
Background: Congenital hearing loss has a major impact on both cognitive and speech-language development which eventually leads to impaired communication and a lower socio-economic status
Objective: To evaluate the result of newborn hearing screening
Design: A Retrospective Study
Setting: NICU and Post-Natal Ward, King Hamad University Hospital, Bahrain
Method: A total of 1,834 babies were screened at the time of discharge, using Transient-Evoked Oto-Acoustic Emissions. Infants who failed the screening test were scheduled for a second screening test. Infants who failed the second screening test were tested with Auditory Brainstem Response [ABR]
Result: Five infants were identified with hearing impairment out of 1,834 or 272 per 100,000. The incidence was 0.27% in the infants screened from October 2012 to December 2015 in the hospital
Conclusion: Five infants were identified with hearing loss according to JCIH standards and advised early intervention. The study could be used to plan services and strategies in the hospital for newborns identified with hearing loss at a very early age to offset the long term consequences of hearing loss