Techniques for assessing hearing loss in infants

The ability to hear is one of the five major senses that allows us to communicate effectively with others. Unfortunately, individuals frequently take their sense of hearing for granted, and they do not know how important it is until it is lost or compromised. Hearing loss was not a top concern for the Indian government until recently. Prevention, early diagnosis, and care can prevent half of all occurrences of deafness and hearing impairment. The auditory sense is critical for a child’s brain development. This will also reduce the strain of hearing loss, preventing the loss of many potentially productive years. The most cost-effective strategy to lessen the burden of hearing loss is to screen new-borns and babies. Hearing loss is the most frequent sensory deficiency in people all over the world. The severity of hearing loss can range from mild to severe. Kapoor Set al. suggested that by screening, the condition is detected earlier than it would otherwise be diagnosed. Because of the urgent need to prevent infectious causes of mortality, neonates and new-borns are not regularly checked for any specific disease in India. The Department of Prevention of Communication Disorders of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) located in the Southern India, conducts infant screening for hearing disorder on regular basis in different hospitals attached to it using Behavioural Observational Audiometry, Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) screening, and administering High Risk Register (HRR). In the year 2009-2010, a total of 12416 new-borns in 10 hospitals associated with AIISH were screened for hearing disorder. The following paragraphs deals with various issues related to the hearing screening of infants in India. Methodology of study was as we searched PubMed Central and Google Scholar for relevant articles with key words «hearing, screening, hearing loss and infants». Full-text articles were downloaded dated July 2022 to September 19, 2022. Relevance was judged according to articles describing theories of hearing screening of infants India. Conclusion. Hearing screening for new-borns is critical for detecting congenital hearing loss and providing early management. Every person has the right to live a healthy lifestyle. Hearing impairment, like communication disorders, begins early in life. Infants with hearing loss will only be able to reach their full potential as fully active, contributing, and integrated members of society if systematic early screening programmes are implemented. Hearing screening for new-borns is critical for detecting congenital hearing loss. The AABR is considered necessary for HRNHS in high-risk new-borns (prematurity, anoxia, hyperbilirubinemia) who are at risk of auditory neuropathy that cannot be detected using the OAE test. The OAE test is faster and easier to conduct, but it has a larger false positive rate than the AABR. The ideal hearing procedure is still being developed. As a result, the hearing screening technique should be adapted to the specific demands of each centre.