pediatrics
Screening Tests for Infants, Children, and Adolescents
Hearing Tests
(See also Hearing Impairment in Children .) Parents may suspect a hearing deficit if their child ceases responding appropriately to noises or voices or does not understand or develop speech (see table). Because hearing deficits impair language development, hearing problems must be remedied as early as possible. The clinician therefore should seek parental input about hearing at every visit during early childhood and be prepared to do formal testing or refer to an audiologist whenever there is any question of the child’s ability to hear. Testing None Testing another in-office procedure, can be used with children of any age and is useful for evaluating middle ear function. Abnormal tympanograms often denote eustachian tube dysfunction or the presence of middle ear fluid that cannot be detected during otoscopic examination. Pneumatic otoscopyis helpful in evaluating middle ear status, but combining it with tympanometry is more informative than either procedure alone. 