title: Results of a neonatal hearing screening program in Maceió.
abstract: Since 1998, after we started the support group for neonatal hearing screening, many other hearing screening programs were held in Brazil. In Alagoas, the first program started in 2003, but none of its results were published. Hearing is paramount for human communication; therefore, childhood hearing loss can impair speech acquisition, emotional, educational and social development.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to present the results achieved in a neonatal hearing screening program in Maceió.
  
  
  METHODS
  a retrospective analytical study was carried out in order to study the results from tests carried out from September 2003 to December 2006 in a private hospital of Maceió.
  
  
  RESULTS
  from a total of 2002 newborns, 1,626 fitted the inclusion criteria, 835 (51.4%) males. The hearing screening was considered appropriate in 1416 cases (87.1%), and the most frequently found age was between 16 and 30 days. Finally, 163 (10.0%) children presented risk indicators for hearing loss, and hyperbilirubinemia was the most common indicator.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  statistical results obtained from this hearing screening program show the importance of holding such programs. This study is important because it contributes to further regional or multinational studies.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas.
authors.forename: Margareth Barbosa de Souza
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Dantas
authors.forename: César Antônio Lira Dos
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Anjos
authors.forename: Elizângela Dias
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Camboim
authors.forename: Marcella de Carvalho Ramos
authors.initials: Mde C
authors.lastname: Pimentel
mesh_terms: D001300:Audiometry, Evoked Response; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods*; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies