Newborn Hearing Screening
Since 01.09.2009, every newborn in Germany has the right to a newborn hearing screening.
If this examination has not yet been carried out in the maternity clinic for various reasons, or if the first hearing test showed an abnormal finding, it is possible to carry out an appropriate diagnosis in our phoniatry/pedaudiology department.
We are connected to the Hearing Screening Database Saxony-Anhalt in order to monitor abnormal findings. www.stoffwechselzentrum-magdeburg.de
Registeration:
Nurse Melanie
Tel: 0391-67-13866 von 14.00 - 15.00 Uhr
Fax: 0391-67-13380
Ms. Witte
Tel: 0391-67-13865
Fax: 0391-67-13380
Consultation:
Monday thru Thursday 8.00am-2.00pm
Fridays 8.00am-12.00pm
Please bring your yellow U-booklet and chip card /insurance card with you to the examination!
The first hearing screening examination is done by using the TEOAE and determining the next step. This abbreviation stands for transitory evoked otoacoustic emissions and is explained in the following sections.
If the result of the examination needs to be proofed, further diagnostics are performed by automated derivation of the acoustically evoked potentials (AABR).
If, on the basis of these examinations, a hearing disorder is suspected, further differentiating audiological diagnostics are immediately initiated as the basis for appropriate therapy.
What is actually a newborn hearing screening?
A screening examination should detect a disease as early as possible with a relatively small expenditure of time in order to avoid or reduce its consequences. The examination used should have a high sensitivity and specificity, i.e. it should detect a disorder as accurately as possible and make few false statements.
The aim of newborn hearing screening is therefore to detect a hearing disorder as early as possible after birth in order to initiate therapy and rehabilitation of the hearing impairment as soon as possible.
Why is newborn hearing screening useful?
Good hearing is a prerequisite for the undisturbed development of the child. Even minor hearing impairment can lead to delays in speech development, which often cannot be corrected without therapy. The development of intellectual abilities and personality is also hindered by a hearing impairment. The incidence of permanent hearing impairment in Germany is of two newborns in every 1000 births.
Hearing disorders of minor extent are often not detected without a hearing screening, or are detected much too late, i.e. sometimes beyond the age of 36 months. The therapy of the resulting speech development disorder is then very complex and not always successful. The optimal time for rehabilitation of a hearing disorder is before the 6th month of life.