Gender and Ear Asymmetry in Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening on Transient Otoacoustic Emission

We studied the effects of gender and ear asymmetry of infants in transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE), including signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and emission reproducibility, using otoacoustic emission for screening in a well-born nursery. TEOAE was analyzed in 253 healthy full-term newborns, i. e., 138 males and 115 females. Results indicated significant gender and ear effects on SNR, response, and whole wave and band reproducibility. The right ear was found to have higher whole wave reproducibility, response, SNR, and band reproducibility than the left ear. Girls showed higher whole wave reproducibility, response, band reproducibility, and SNR than boys, as we discuss in light of previous results.