Establishing a newborn hearing screening programme in Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to establish a model of universal newborn hearing screening in Taiwan. The project of screening is a large-scale implenlentation of the transient evoked otoacoustic emissions. The screening test was carried out on newborns 48 hours after birth, just prior to hospital discharge. The project extended from November 1998 to December 2001 at Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei. A total of 11 291 newborns were screened. Among them, 10 556 babies (93.5%) passed the test bilaterally, but 735 babies (6.5%) failed it. For those who failed in screening it was arranged to have OAE or ABR testing for further assessment. The results show that 18 babies were diagnosed to have bilateral hearing loss and 41 unilateral hearing loss. The prevalence of congenital bilateral hearing loss is about 0.16% and that of unilateral hearing loss is approximately 0.36%. All the babies identified with bilateral hearing loss were referred to the Children's Hearing Foundation for hearing rehabilitation.