Use of a high-risk register in newborn hearing screening.
High-risk newborns were routinely screened for hearing loss by observing their behavioral responses to a 3000-Hz warbled tone at 90 or 100 dB SPL. Infants were identified as high risk if they presented any of the conditions listed by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing Screening or if they were placed in the special care or intensive care sections of the newborn nursery. During the program's first 12 months, 17% of the total newborn population were included in the screening, and 7% of those screened failed to respond. Approximately half of the infants who failed the screening returned for follow-up testing. No hearing loss has been identified among these infants. Special steps have been required to improve the screening's effectiveness.
D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008403:Mass Screening; D012042:Registries