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Abstract
Objective: Inability to complete a behavioral hearing screening is a challenge for children with developmental disorders or who are otherwise difficult to test, defined here as unable or unwilling to complete a behavioral screening. The study compared referral rates from screenings that used behavioral methods alone, with screenings that added a screen with the Vivosonic Integrity™ auditory brainstem response (ABR) device. Design: Behavioral screening was performed first. Those children who failed were re-screened with the Vivosonic Integrity ABR device. Changes in referral and screening completion rates after the second screening were calculated and analysed. Study sample: The participant population (n = 43) consisted of children with diagnosed developmental disorders. Results: Adding the Vivosonic Integrity to the screening protocol significantly increased the proportion of children who completed the screening, from 57% after behavioral screening to 81% after behavioral and ABR screening. The addition of the ABR screen did not change that overall pass/refer rate, in part because four participants who did not complete the behavioral screen received a ‘Refer’ outcome on the ABR screen. Conclusions: The results indicate that the Vivosonic Integrity device could be a useful tool for hearing screening of children who are difficult to screen using behavioral procedures.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the contributions of the graduate students in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at The Ohio State University in data acquisition and analysis. This research was supported in part by equipment provided by Vivosonic, Inc. The first author's present address is: Huron Valley Hearing, Inc., 222 West Highland Road, Highland, MI 48357, USA.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest.