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Abstract
Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) have been widely used as an objective and noninvasive method of assessing outer hair cell function of the cochlea for infants. This paper is aimed at investigating the infant hearing screening service in Hong Kong using distraction test and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). In Study 1, the DPOAE results were obtained using two criteria: Criterion I was (DP response - noise floor) > 2 standard deviations above noise floor; and Criterion II was (DP response - noise floor) > 6 dB. The results were compared with pure tone audiograms for 43 young children who were able to give reliable responses in play audiometry. Criterion I was found to be superior to Criterion II in view of its higher specificity (86.5%). Hence Criterion I was used in a subsequent study, Study 2. In that second study, 144 (73%) out of 196 infants who failed the distraction test passed the DPOAE hearing screening. Most infants who failed the distraction test were under 6 months old (122 out of 196 infants), suggesting that DPOAE is a more appropriate hearing screening test for infants at this young age.