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What Causes A Failure In The OAE Test For A New Born?
Question: I have been blessed with a baby girl on 06-July-2016. We performed an Hearing screening test for the baby. Otoread machine(hand held) was used for hearing screening. The hearing screen showed Refer for the first time which was conducted on 12-July-16. During bathing the baby my in laws put oil in both the ears without my knowledge on 11-july-16( This was not repeated though). I thought this was the reason for the screening to fail. Again we performed hear screening test on 18-July-2016(today) and the result was showing Refer again. This is really freaking me out and we are very tensed. Doctor advised us to do it again in next month. We have clearly observed that baby is responding to sounds but not sure why the results are not showing favorable. Can you please let me know if its normal for new born as I am very worried now.
Brief Answer:
There is no cause for worry.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
1. It is common for many newborn children to fail their first OAE test. This is why the result is labelled as 'refer' and not 'failed'.
2. Wax/oil/debris in the external ear canal, fluid in the middle ear, an improper or blocked probe, movement or crying can result in an abnormal OAE result.
3. A failed OAE result is always recommended to be repeated one month later. A week is too early as the ear canal was unlikely to clear so soon.
4. A second failed result after a month can be repeated after three months and an ABR (BERA) with an ASSR test is done as part of the hearing assesment. Thus OAE is only a screening test and a small part of the newborn hearing assessment.
5. Only 2 to 4 children out of every 1000 are born with severe hearing loss. Hence the chances of a hearing loss is low.
6. Regarding the response to sounds, OAE checks mainly the speech frequencies between 2 to 4 kHz. The human heating range is from 0.002 to 20 kHz. The OAE frequencies are most affected by the earlier mentioned middle and outer ear problems.
7. Hence there is no cause for worry. Allow the audiologist and ENT specialist to follow up as explained above. Most babies with a 'refer' test are normal.
8. Kindly let me know the progress either here or directly at bit.ly / Dr-Sumit-Bhatti
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
There is no cause for worry.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
1. It is common for many newborn children to fail their first OAE test. This is why the result is labelled as 'refer' and not 'failed'.
2. Wax/oil/debris in the external ear canal, fluid in the middle ear, an improper or blocked probe, movement or crying can result in an abnormal OAE result.
3. A failed OAE result is always recommended to be repeated one month later. A week is too early as the ear canal was unlikely to clear so soon.
4. A second failed result after a month can be repeated after three months and an ABR (BERA) with an ASSR test is done as part of the hearing assesment. Thus OAE is only a screening test and a small part of the newborn hearing assessment.
5. Only 2 to 4 children out of every 1000 are born with severe hearing loss. Hence the chances of a hearing loss is low.
6. Regarding the response to sounds, OAE checks mainly the speech frequencies between 2 to 4 kHz. The human heating range is from 0.002 to 20 kHz. The OAE frequencies are most affected by the earlier mentioned middle and outer ear problems.
7. Hence there is no cause for worry. Allow the audiologist and ENT specialist to follow up as explained above. Most babies with a 'refer' test are normal.
8. Kindly let me know the progress either here or directly at bit.ly / Dr-Sumit-Bhatti
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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