European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Congenital hearing loss can be caused by prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors and is difficult to detect. All infants should be screened for hearing loss and intervention should be given as soon as possible to prevent speech and behavior disorders. The study was aimed to examine the correlation between prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors with congenital hearing loss in infants. This was an observational analytic research using secondary data from the medical record of infants aged 0-12 months who were screened with otoacoustic emission (OAE) and automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) in Audiology Clinic of Dr. Soetomo General Hospital in 2014-2018. Total of 439 infants met the inclusion criteria. Most of them were ≤ 1 months old (46.2%) and male (53.3%). The largest proportion of prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors in this study respectively were Toxoplasma, other agents, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes simplex (TORCH) infection (23.2%), low birth weight (67.7%), and febrile convulsion (5.5%). Congenital hearing loss was found in 151 of 439 patients (34.4%). Chi-square test showed a difference between the results of OAE and AABR (p = 0.000). Coefficient contingency test showed a correlation between asphyxia and congenital hearing loss (p = 0.002). Asphyxia as perinatal factor was correlated with congenital hearing loss, whereas prenatal and postnatal factors were not correlated. Using OAE complemented with AABR is recommended in screening for congenital hearing loss.