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Universal neonatal hearing screening program in private hospital, Qatar

Background Newborn hearing screening is now the accepted standard of care in several countries and is becoming increasingly more established worldwide. The early detection of hearing loss is important to avoid complications in language development. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate two-stage neonatal hearing screening program in a single private hospital in Doha, Qatar. Patients and methods A total number of 10 310 babies were tested from May 2011 to May 2016. A universal two-stage hearing screening (universal neonatal hearing screening) protocol was used. Transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were used twice for hearing screening of all babies. The first-stage screening was performed at the first 2–3 days of life before discharge from the hospital, and the second-stage screening was performed after 2 months. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) was assessed later for babies who failed TEOAEs. Results Most of the studied neonates were delivered by means of caesarian section (55%) with a mean weight of 3.19±0.46 kg. All (100%) neonates attended the first-stage hearing screening, and only 27.8% of neonates attended the second stage. The most frequent risk factor was prematurity (54.6%). The percentage of high-risk babies was 19.1% from the total neonates for the 3 years recorded for high risk. 10.3% attended the second stage and only one-fourth underwent diagnostic ABR. A percentage of 0.001–0.003 hearing disorder was recorded. Conclusion Two-stage neonatal hearing screening protocol should include automated ABR and not only TEOAEs.