[Perinatal factors affecting the detection of otoacoustic emissions in vaginally delivered, healthy newborns, during the first 48 hours of life].
OBJECTIVE
Most hospitals perform neonatal hearing screening because it is a very useful procedure. Otoacoustic emissions are an ideal technique for this screening. We analyse the possible influence on screening results of some perinatal factors.


METHODS
We collected retrospective data from 8,239 healthy newborns delivered vaginally at the maternity ward of our hospital. We compared multiple perinatal factors vs the results of otoacoustic emissions performed within the first 48 h of life, before discharge.


RESULTS
A total of 6.4% of newborns had an abnormal response and failed the screening. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed a significant (P<.0001) positive relationship between breastfeeding and normal otoacoustic emissions (OR: 0.65). Another, less significant factor was female gender. The remaining variables, including origin, education or employment status of the mother, maternal smoking, dystocic delivery, presentation, need for resuscitation, preterm labour (34-36 weeks), weight, length and frequent maternal pathology, such as streptococcus detection, hypothyroidism, hypertension or diabetes, were not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Breastfeeding was the most important factor related to a normal response in otoacoustic emissions. It may improve final results and reduce the number of neonates who need to be rescheduled for a repeated test, as well as the associated anxiety and the possibility of losing patients during follow-up. These are major problems in neonatal hearing screening.
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Francesc de Borja, Gandía, Valencia, España. Electronic address: sequi_jos@gva.es.
José M
JM
Sequi-Canet
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Francesc de Borja, Gandía, Valencia, España.
María J
MJ
Sala-Langa
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Francesc de Borja, Gandía, Valencia, España.
José I
JI
Collar Del Castillo
D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous; D012189:Retrospective Studies
Breastfeeding; Cribado auditivo; Hearing screening; Lactancia materna; Otoacoustic emissions; Otoemisiones acústicas