Neonatal Hearing Screening: Prevalence of Unilateral and Bilateral Hearing Loss and Associated Risk Factors

INTRODUCTIONNewborn hearing screening is essential for early identification of hearing loss to decrease the adverse effects of hearing loss. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of hearing loss and risk factors of congenital hearing loss in newborns. METHODSIn this analytical case-control study, a hearing screening test was performed for all newborns aged 3-14 days. RESULTSOf 5,500 newborns evaluated, 24 newborns had hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss was 4.36 per 1,000. Of 24 hearing-impaired newborns, 15 had bilateral hearing loss (BHL) (62.5%) and nine had unilateral hearing loss (UHL) (37.5%). Among the neonates with hearing loss, the prevalence of hearing loss was higher (77.8%) in the right ear. The main risk factors identified in this study were low gestational age (P=0.001), hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) (P=0.008), exposure to ototoxic drugs (P=0.001), gestational diabetes P=0.01), craniofacial anomalies (P=0.01), convulsion (P=0.03), consanguineous marriage of parents (P=0.001), low birth weight (P=0.01), and hyperbilirubinemia (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of hearing loss was higher in the right ear than in the left ear. NICU stay, use of ototoxic drugs, low gestational age (