Efficacy of the OAE/ABR Protocol in Identifying Hearing Loss
Project Overview
This research project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control through a cooperative agreement with the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine (ATPM). ATPM contracts with the University of Hawai‘i to implement this grant. This research study is addressing the question of whether the most commonly used protocol, the two- stage OAE/ABR procedure, is failing to identify a number of newborns with a significant hearing loss. Twelve birthing centers across the nation are participating in the study. Key staff have also been drawn from two other research centers. Extensive demographic, prenatal, and perinatal data is being collected on each of the babies. Out of a birth cohort of approximately 54,000 births, the intent is to enroll 1,500 newborns, and obtain comprehensive diagnostic evaluations on 1,000 of them between seven and nine months adjusted age. The study has been expanded to also collect data on all babies who are identified for follow-up because they fail both the OAE and ABR screening.
Products
Products will be developed upon completion of the research study, now scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2003.
