Objective To obtain suitable
hearing screening methods for
preschool children.
Methods A total of 2025
children aged 2~6 years old in 30 kindergartens in Huangshi City were selected by random sampling
method.
Acoustic impedance and otoacoustic emission tests(transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions and distortion product otoacoustic emissions) were performed in two stages of preliminary
hearing screening.The
children who failed the
hearing screening needed to do the re-creening with the same
methods;the
children who failed the rescreening needed to receive audiological tests including ABR, ASSR examination and imaging examinations.Results The total
screening pass rate was 94.02%, of which 1 842 passed the preliminary
hearing screening(90.96%, 1 842/2 025).The 183
children who failed the preliminary
hearing screening received the re-
screening, 62
children passed the re-
screening(33.88%,62/183).121
children failed the re-
screening(5.98%,121/2 025), and finally 72
children(3.56%,72/2 025)were diagnosed with
hearing loss, including 47 cases of
otitis media,22 cases of
sensorineural hearing loss(8 cases were moderate, 4 cases were severe
hearing loss,10 cases were profound);18 cases were
unilateral hearing loss while 4 cases were
bilateral hearing loss.Conclusion
Acoustic impedance and otoacoustic emission tests can be used for
hearing screening in
preschool children.The
hearing problems of
preschool children in Huangshi City were concentrated mainly in the
middle ear secretory otitis media and different degree of
sensorineural hearing loss.