Otoacoustic Emissions as a Screening Tool for School-Age Children with Hearing Loss and OME

• Published in: Skull Base Vol. 16; no. S 2
• Main Authors: Georgalas, Christos, Xenelis, John, Kandiloros, Dimitris, Tzagaroulakis, Antonios, Ferekidis, Eleftherios
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 22.03.2007
• ISSN: 1531-5010; 1532-0065
• DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-958544

The characteristics of otoacoustic emissions (OAE) that make them ideally suited for mass screening of newborns for hearing loss could potentially be useful for screening of older children. Otitis media with effusion (OME) is the most common cause of hearing loss in school-age children. Timely diagnosis of OME and hearing loss as part of a screening program could be potentially as important. This study was performed in order to assess the role of OAE in a screening program for middle ear disorders and hearing loss in school-age children. One hundred ninety-six children were evaluated with OAE, and 20% failed in both ears, while in 32% OAE could not be produced in at least one ear. The incidence of OAE was lower in younger children. The absence of OAE was highly correlated with tympanic membrane (TM) changes in otoscopy and the presence of type B (and less type C) tympanometry. As the only screening method, OAE had 90% sensitivity and 64% specificity in diagnosing hearing loss more than 25 dB, which did not improve by adding tympanometry to the screening protocol. These results suggest strongly the potential usefulness of OAE in screening school-age children and could be further assessed in future studies.