Hearing Outcomes in Failed Newborn Hearing Screening Infants With and Without Chronic Serous Otitis

Abstract Objective To identify outcomes in hearing loss (HL) diagnosis and intervention in infants with a failed newborn hearing screen (NBHS) and otitis media with effusion (OME) compared to those with failed NBHS and without OME. Study Design Retrospective review. Setting Tertiary medical center. Methods A chart review was performed on infants referred to Primary Children's Hospital for failed NBHS from 2012 to 2018. Eighty infants with failed NBHS and OME and 55 with failed NBHS and no OME were included. Incidence of permanent HL along with the age of HL confirmation and early intervention (EI) enrollment were compared. Results The incidence of OME in infants with failed NBHS was 59.3%. Fifty‐six percent of infants with OME and 12.5% of those without OME did not receive definitive hearing confirmation in either ear due to loss to follow‐up or insufficient audiometric assessment. Permanent HL was identified in 11.3% (n = 9) of infants with OME and in 20.0% (n = 11) of those without OME. Infants with OME were significantly older at the time of HL confirmation (4.2 ± 2.1 months) and EI enrollment (5.4 ± 2.5 months) compared to those without OME at the time of HL confirmation (1.0 ± 1.0 months; p < .001) and EI enrollment (2.6 ± 1.8 months; p = .04). Conclusion Infants with failed NBHS and OME are highly susceptible to a significant delay in HL confirmation or lack of confirmatory hearing tests. Timely OME resolution with earlier ventilation tube insertion by 3 months of age and follow‐up audiologic assessment is recommended.