Comparison of pure tone and transient otoacoustic emissions screening in a grade school population.
OBJECTIVE
Otoacoustic emissions provide an alternative to traditional pure tone hearing screening in a diverse grade school population.


BACKGROUND
Mandated pure tone hearing screening programs for grade school children have several significant limitations. Otoacoustic emissions have been shown to be a reliable screening test in newborns, but there are no data on screening a diverse grade school population.


METHODS
Five hundred eighty-three grade school children in four separate school populations were screened for hearing loss using the standard pure tone four-frequency protocol and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions. Students failing either test received a comprehensive audiogram by an audiologist that served as the "gold standard." Sensitivity and specificity of both tests were compared.


RESULTS
The sensitivity and specificity of pure tone screening was 87% and 80%, respectively, compared with 65% and 91% for transient evoked otoacoustic emissions.


CONCLUSIONS
Pure tone screening was a statistically significant better screening test for detecting hearing loss in this population of grade school children.
Sabo
M P
MP
Department of Audiology, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona 85006, USA.
Winston
R
R
Macias
J D
JD
D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone / Q000379:methods*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous / Q000502:physiology*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013334:Students; D013383:Suburban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data