Screening Test for Hearing Impairment in Infants

Abstract

Since April 1977, the Japanese goverment has sponsored the screening tests for the early detection of severe hearing impairment in one and a half-year-old infants as part of the national health program.
The authors carried out a pilot study of the screening tests consisting of questionnaires and behavioral observation audiometry (BOA), to detect a moderate or severe hearing impairment in infants born with a high-risk for hearing impairment. After we confirmed the usefulness of our screening tests in the pilot study, we attempted to apply the screening tests for one and a half-year-old infants.
The results obtained were as follows:
(1) Our screening tests were able to detect hearing impairment over the moderate degree in one and a half-year-old infants with a congenital high-risk for hearing impairment.
(2) In the general health examination for the one and a half-year-old infants, BOA should be included to select those who will need further examinations, because only the questionnaires are insufficient to detect hearing impairments.
(3) It would be better to use a standardized tone and sound pressure level in BOA.