The newborn hearing screening results in Kastamonu Education and Research Hospital

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report the results of newborn hearing screening performed in 2017-2020 at the Kastamonu Education and Research Hospital, Turkey. Material and Method: Six thousand seven hundred and ninety newborns undergoing hearing screening between January 2017 and December 2019 at the Kastamonu Education and Research Hospital were included in this retrospective study. The screening ABR test was performed with all babies. Test findings retrieved from our hospital and the central database were subjected to analysis. Results: 4701 babies passed the 1st test, 1920 babies passed the 2nd test, 139 babies passed the 3rd test. Of the 30 babies who could not pass these 3 screening ABR tests and were referred to the reference center, 19 passed the test. Of the remaining 11 babies (0.162%), 7 (0.103%) had unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and 4 (0.058%) had bilateral SNHL. Conclusion: It is very important for hearing loss to be detected via screening tests in the first three months and for treatment and rehabilitation to be started within six months at the latest. These babies can thus acquire normal hearing and not lag behind their peers in terms of linguistic, social, and cognitive skill development.