Auditory evoked potentials in children at neonatal risk for hypoacusis

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials provide a simple, noninvasive method of evaluating hearing function and have been widely used for early detection of hypoacusis in children. Between April 1992 and May 1994, a study was done of 400 Mexican children who presented at least one neonatal risk factor for hearing impairment. The average age of the children studied was 6.6 months and their average gestational age at birth was 35.1 weeks. Just over half of the children had been treated with amikacin. The study found 1427 risk factors (about 3.5 per child), the most common ones being exposure to ototoxic substances, hyperbilirubinemia, and birthweight