Original Research Reliability of nurse-administered infant hearing screening using otoacoustic emissions

Mukovhe Phanguphangu, Andrew J. Ross

About the author(s) Mukovhe Phanguphangu, Department of Family Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Andrew J. Ross, Department of Family Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Abstract

Background: In South Africa (SA), congenital hearing loss (HL) is identified at around 30 months of age, which is later than local standards of identification by 6 weeks, mainly because of limited access to infant and newborn hearing screening (INHS). Thus, there is a critical need to explore other models of providing early detection such as nurse-administered INHS.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the reliability of nurse-administered INHS.

Method: This was a repeated-measures study where 50 infants scheduled to receive their 6-week immunisation were independently screened by two nurses and an audiologist using distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE). Data were analysed using Cohen’s kappa, using Stata v18 for Macintosh.

Results: Thirteen (n = 13, 26%) infants failed DPOAE screening tests, of which four were male and nine (n = 9) were female. All participants who failed the screening were referred to the hospital for further evaluation and intervention as needed. Further analysis revealed an almost perfect agreement between audiologist- and nurse-administered screening (k = 0.81, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Findings from this study demonstrate that nurses can consistently screen and identify babies with congenital HL using DPOAE screening tests. Furthermore, these findings pave the way for incorporating nurse-administered DPOAE screening into immunisation programmes, with the potential to increase access to INHS and reduce the age of identification of congenital HL to acceptable standards. Large-scale research is recommended to explore the implementation of this nurse-administered INHS in other contexts.

Contribution: This study contributes to the growing body of evidence on INHS in SA.

Keywords

congenital hearing loss; Infant hearing screening; nurse-administered screening; reliability studies; otoacoustic emissions screening; rural setting

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

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