Question
My baby was born yesterday, and there has been no scheduling for the screening today. I asked the nurse, and she said to wait. Won’t I miss the best time if I wait? What is the best time to perform a newborn hearing screening?
Answer
The hospital used the GS170 automated otoacoustic emission hearing screening instrument to screen 1226 newborns based on their age at birth, and the results showed that the pass rates for hearing screening on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th days after birth were 32.05%, 50.76%, 84.11%, 92.05%, 93.67%, 93.55%, and 93.62%, respectively. As the age of the newborns increased, the pass rate of the initial screening showed an upward trend. However, it remained stable after 4 days. The pass rate of the initial screening within the first 3 days before birth (66.03%) was significantly different from that of the screening from 4 to 7 days after birth (93.01%). This suggests that newborn hearing screening should be conducted within 3 days after birth, so the best testing time for infants is 72 hours.