Audiological monitoring of infants in different newborn hearing screening programs: a systematic review

Purpose  To search the literature for guidelines on infant’s audiological monitoring, most commonly used procedures, the age at which they are performed, which population should be monitored and the countries that study the subject the most. Besides, the importance and effectiveness of these measures will be discussed.

Research strategy  The review was conducted based on the PRISMA recommendations, registered on the PROSPERO platform. The studies were searched for in the electronic databases Medline (Pubmed), Web of Science and SciELO, using the descriptors hearing, neonatal screening and follow up.

Selection criteria  studies reporting the audiological monitoring were included. No filters on year and language of publication were used.

Results  A total of 432 articles were found and 21 were included in this study, mostly produced in developed countries. The Auditory Brainstem Response and the Behavioral Assessment were the most frequently used procedures. As to age and population, most infants are subjected to audiological monitoring up to three years of age and have Risk Factors for Hearing Loss in their clinical history.

Conclusion  The studies pointed that there is no standard among the protocols for performing audiological monitoring, but it was possible to identify agreement as to the age at which such monitoring takes place and which population should be monitored. However, although there is some disagreement, the assessment methods used in the studies are effective in detecting mild, progressive and/or late hearing loss, in addition to false negative cases.

Keywords:
Follow-up; Neonatal hearing screening; Hearing loss; Audiology; Infant