Hearing Screening Test
In our country, some health screenings are routinely performed on newborn babies for the purpose of healthy individual development and early detection of diseases. For example, the aim of the vaccines given within the scope of the routine vaccination program is to make each individual more protected against some diseases. Hearing screening test, just like in the example, is a routine screening and should be performed on every newborn baby in the first weeks of life.
Why is the hearing screening test important? Studies show that congenital hearing loss is detected in an average of 3 out of every 1000 babies born. The sense of hearing is very important in terms of learning with sound stimuli and developing speaking skills, especially in infancy and developmental ages, as in all stages of life. For example, language development develops in correlation with visual and auditory stimuli. The speaking skills of a baby with inadequate hearing function remain backward and inadequate. For these reasons, hearing losses that are not detected within the first 6 months will cause the necessary interventions to be delayed. For this reason, hearing screening test is of great importance in detecting hearing loss in the early period.
Hearing test is an effective method performed with extremely simple methods.
For Hearing Test. Auto Acoustic Emission (OAE) and ABR tests are performed. In order to get accurate results during the hearing test, the baby must be still and the environment is quiet. Hearing tests do not cause pain. Performing the test under natural sleep will be effective in giving faster and more reliable results
Auto Acoustic Emission (OAE)
It is performed through a probe reminiscent of a headset placed in the external ear canal. .Occlusions in the external auditory canal may cause incorrect measurements. For this reason, it is recommended not to bathe your baby for 2 days before the test. Approximately 30 - 40% of babies can fail the tests even if they do not have hearing loss. The reasons for this are:
• Narrowness of the external ear canal,
• Inability to ensure inactivity or sleepiness in the baby, k
• Placement of the appropriate probe in the ear,
• Blockages in the ear canal (middle ear Reasons such as presence of fluid in the k pathway) can be listed.
Failure of the test does not mean that there is definite hearing loss. If necessary, the test should be repeated after 1 week. If the test fails again, the test must be repeated with advanced methods to detect hearing loss.
ABR/BERA Screening Test
Babies who fail the Auto Acoustic Emission test or Even if they pass this test, the hearing screening test of babies who are in the risk group (babies at risk are listed below) should be repeated with the ABR / BERA Screening Test, which is a higher level test. Unlike the Auto Acoustic Emission test, small elastic bands (electrodes) are placed on the baby's forehead and behind the ears, headphones are inserted into the ear canal and a special sound wave is sent, and the test is completed by measuring the response of the auditory nerve to these sound waves. p>
Babies Who Can Be Considered in the Risk Group in Terms of Hearing Loss
• Babies born earlier than 35 weeks
• Babies born under 1500 g
• Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit babies
• Babies who have been treated with a respirator for a long time
• Babies with a family history of hearing loss in childhood
• Disorders in the head structure and ear structure (such as prominent ears)
• Babies with structural defects such as cleft palate and cleft lip. • Babies whose jaundice level is high enough to require blood exchange.
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