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Abstract
This study examined the effects of gender, ear asymmetry and activity status of infants on various measures of transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE), including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and reproducibility of emissions, using TEOAE as a mass screening procedure in a community health setting. Five hundred and sixty-eight infants were screened for hearing at two months of age, before immunization. The ILO88 Otodynamic Analyzer Quickscreen program was used for all testing with pass/fail criteria similar to those used in the Rhode Island hearing assessment project. The results indicated a significant difference in SNR across sex, with females showing a higher mean SNR. The right ear was found to have higher values in ‘reproducibility’ and ‘response level’ than the left ear. A significant difference in SNR across activity states was also evident. Implications from these findings, as applied to community-based screening programs, are discussed.