Screening of Newborn Infants for Hearing Loss in Tokyo

Infants diagnosed with hearing loss before 6 months of age obtained significantly better language scores than infants diagnosed after 6 months of age, regardless of the degree of hearing loss. Thus, screening all infants, diagnosing hearing loss within 3 months, and instituting intervention within 6 months are recommended. In 2003 and 2004, newborn infants were screened for hearing by the two-stage auditory brainstem response in Tachikawa City as a model project in Tokyo. A total of 1506 (44%) infants were screened. Four infants (0.26%) required an auditory diagnostic test. The degrees of hearing loss of all four infants were checked in our hospital. One infant (0.066%) was diagnosed with bilateral severe to moderate hearing loss. He was sent to Higashiyamato Medical Center for the Severely Disabled, and his hearing loss has been followed by auditory brainstem response in our hospital. Three infants were diagnosed with unilateral severe hearing loss, and two of them were followed in our hospital. The family of the third infant moved to another city. The incidence of bilateral severe to moderate hearing loss in the newborns in our screening was almost the same as in other reports. Important things are how to explain the results of the examination to the patients' family and how to start early education and treatment, such as with cochlear implants, and how to maintain this project.