بررسی بروز کم‌شنوایی حسی- عصبی نوزادان بستری شده در بخش‌های نوزادان و مراقبت‌های ویژه نوزدان مراکز آموزشی- درمانی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی گلستان

Background and purpose: Hearing impairment or auditory disorder is a hidden disability and is one of the most common anomalies at birth and leaves so negative effects on speech, language and cognition development. The aim of this study was the assessment of the incidence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) among neonates. Materials and methods: In this prospective cohort study, 870 neonates were recruited by nonrandom sampling method. After filling in the demographic and clinical check lists, automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) was performed for neonates at the beginning of hospitalization then they were followed-up and again they were assessed with AABR and for those babies who had abnormal AABR, auditory brainstem response (ABR) was performed before discharge at the same day. Results: The mean age of the infants on admission was 3.75 ± 4.86 days and 56.4% of them were females. Totally, 3.4% of the infants had SNHL. There was a statistically significant difference between the hearing loss and the variables of birth weight, Apgar score at 1st and 5th minutes, total serum bilirubin, mechanical ventilation and its duration (P < 0.05). However, there was not a statistically significant difference between the hearing loss and the variables of age and sex of neonates, type of delivery, mother's age and number of exchange transfusion (P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study estimates the incidence of SNHL in hospitalized neonates (3.4%) which was so much similar to other studies in Iran and other countries.