Hearing screening for preschoolers in Shanghai

This was a cross-sectional within-subject study investigating the reliability and validity of an automated hearing screening test system for preschoolers and the risk factors for hearing loss. The subjects were 6231 preschoolers (3 – 7 years old) from 41 kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Six hundred and forty-seven children were referred for diagnostic audiological assessment after the automated pure-tone screening test. Using the conventional pure-tone audiometry as the “gold standard,” the sensitivity and specificity of the automated hearing screening test increased from 0.33 and 0.15 in the youngest age group to 0.95 and 1.00 in the oldest age group, respectively. There was no statistically significant gender effect, but there was an age effect (2 = 22.96, p < 0.01). In the univariate analysis of 104 cases and 201 controls, significantly elevated odds ratios (OR) for hearing loss were correlated with universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) test results (OR = 28.15, p < 0.01), parental suspicion of hearing loss (OR = 10.10, p < 0.05), and attendance at preschool before the age of 5 (OR = 0.51, p < 0.05). The results suggest that the automated hearing screening test system can be used in screening programmes for preschoolers older than five years old.

Funding Source: Non-HK - Others^^