A hearing screening is a quick test to see how well you hear different sounds. You either pass or fail the screening. If you pass, you do not need to do anything else. If you fail, you may need more testing to see if you have a hearing loss. 

 

Newborn hearing screening is the standard of care in hospitals nationwide. The primary purpose of newborn hearing screening is to identify newborns who are likely to have hearing loss and who require further evaluation. A secondary objective is to identify newborns with medical conditions that can cause late-onset hearing loss and to establish a plan for continued monitoring of their hearing status (Joint Committee on Infant Hearing [JCIH], 2007). The EHDI guidelines include hearing screening completion by 1 month of age, diagnosis of any hearing loss by 3 months of age, hearing aid selection and fitting within 1 month of confirmation of hearing loss if parents choose that option, and entry into early intervention (EI) services by 6 months of age. 

 

In India approximately 42,434 BABIES are born per day. 8 - 10 % of them are reported to have some form of hearing disabilities. Hence it becomes very essential to rule out the possibility of hearing loss immediately after birth. 

 

Passing a screening does not mean that a child has normal hearing across the frequency range. Because minimal and frequency-specific hearing losses are not targeted by newborn hearing screening programs, newborns with these losses may pass a hearing screening. Because these losses have the potential to interfere with the speech, language, and psychoeducational development of children (Yoshinaga-Itano, DeConde Johnson, Carpenter, & Stredler-Brown, 2008), monitoring of hearing, speech, and language milestones throughout childhood is essential.