Neonatal hearing screeningNewbornOtoacoustic emissionsPermanent hearing loss

Screening programs examining neonatal hearing serve to detect hearing defects, as a prerequisite for hearing rehabilitation, communication skills, and the enhancement of speech development. There are two methods through which neonatal hearing screening is carried out – the transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) or the automatic BERA (AABR, automated auditory brainstem response). Positive screening means the discovery of a hearing defect (permanent hearing loss), and negative screening (normal TEOAE or the AABR results) means the absence of a hearing defect. The procedural aim is to update and adjust the neonatal hearing screening, which is determined by the Bulletin of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic No. 7/2012. Neonatal screening is performed at three levels: at neonatological site, at the ENT (phoniatric) rescreening site and at the ENT regional centre. The activities at each level are accurately and concretely identified including the issue of billing the performance to health insurance companies and informed consent to personal data protection (GDPR).