Newborn hearing screening in Western Australia.

AIM To report the preliminary findings of a pilot program to screen newborn babies for congenital bilateral permanent hearing loss. SETTING The five largest maternity hospitals in Perth, Western Australia. Screening was gradually introduced over seven months from February to August 2000. PARTICIPANTS All babies born at these hospitals after the introduction of hearing screening until 30 June 2001. METHODS One or both of two automated screening devices were used: one measuring transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and the other automated auditory brainstem responses (AABR). If a "pass" was not obtained in both ears, screening was repeated. All babies who did not obtain a pass in either ear at follow-up were referred for audiological assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of permanent bilateral hearing loss. RESULTS Of 13 214 eligible babies, 12 708 (96.2%) received screening. The main reason for missing screening was early hospital discharge (309; 2.3%). Of the screened babies, 99% had a pass response in both ears at either the initial or follow-up screen. Twenty-three babies were referred for audiological assessment, and nine were diagnosed with bilateral permanent hearing loss (0.68/1000; 95% CI, 0.31-1.28). CONCLUSIONS Despite our program meeting process quality indicators, our detection rate was low. Before extending the program to smaller hospitals, we need to validate our screening instruments and put in place a system to monitor false negative results.