OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the status of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) on cochlear function in a cohort of male/female participants with a wide age range. It examined whether there was a correlation between the presence of SOAEs and measurements of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), SOAEs and extended high-frequency (EHF) hearing thresholds.
METHODS: 463 participants (222 male, 241 female; age range 20-59 years) with pure-tone thresholds ≤25 dB HL for octave frequencies of 500-8000 Hz were included in the study, divided into three age groups (20-29, 30-39, and 40-59 years). Evaluations included EHF (9000-16,000 Hz) hearing thresholds and TEOAE, DPOAE and SOAE measures.
RESULTS: Multiple regression models showed that participants with SOAEs had larger expected amplitudes and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for TEOAE and DPOAE responses than participants without SOAEs, holding gender and age variables constant. Spearman correlation tests identified deterioration in TEOAE and DPOAE amplitudes and SNRs, and EHF hearing thresholds with age in participants without SOAEs. Among participants with SOAEs, no significant decreases in TEOAE and DPOAE measures were shown in participants with older age. Nonetheless, as expected, EHF hearing thresholds did become worse with age, with or without SOAEs.
CONCLUSIONS: Participants with identifiable SOAEs had greater TEOAE and DPOAE amplitudes and SNRs than participants without SOAEs. SOAEs appear to be a useful marker of cochlear health in adults.

UNASSIGNED: The present study investigated the effect of blood group on cochlear function in a large participant sample across different age groups. The study hypothesis was that participants with blood group O would show relatively reduced cochlear function as reflected in otoacoustic emission (OAE) measures.
UNASSIGNED: Data were collected from transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE), distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), DPOAE input/output (I/O) function, and spontaneous otoacoustic emission (SOAE) recordings.
UNASSIGNED: Four hundred and sixty-three normal hearing adults aged 20-59 years among the four ABO blood groups participated in the study.
UNASSIGNED: TEOAE and DPOAE amplitudes did not reveal significant differences for participants with blood group O compared with participants with non-O blood groups. No significant differences in I/O function categories were found among participants with different blood groups. SOAE prevalence was also not significantly different across blood groups. However, previously reported age and gender differences for OAE variables were confirmed.
UNASSIGNED: Participants with blood group O were not found to have significantly reduced cochlear function, based on OAE measures. Results from the current study do not support the hypothesis that normal hearing individuals with different ABO blood groups differ in level of cochlear function.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to research risk factors of hearing loss among neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit.
METHODS: Hearing screening tests were performed on 572 neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit. Those who failed screening tests were referred for diagnostic tests.
RESULTS: The pass rates for automated auditory brainstem response, distortion product otoacoustic emission and acoustic impedance tests at first hearing screening were 69.93 per cent, 70.02 per cent and 92.92 per cent for 1144 ears. Failure in the first screening correlated with preterm birth, very low birth weight, revised advanced maternal age, neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia and Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, Respiration score less than 8. Thirty cases failed in diagnostic hearing tests for brainstem auditory evoked potentials, 28 failed in otoacoustic emissions and 33 failed in acoustic impedance, which correlated with preterm birth, very low birth weight, twins, advanced maternal age and revised advanced maternal age.
CONCLUSIONS: Abnormalities in the hearing levels of most neonates who needed hearing retests were completely or partially reversible. Preterm birth, very low birth weight, twins and advanced maternal age are potential risk factors for hearing impairment.

UNASSIGNED: To compare and analyze the pass rate and screening strategy of hearing rescreening for newborns with high risk factors.
UNASSIGNED: Retrospective chart review of high-risk newborns who failed their initial newborn hearing screen and subsequently underwent secondary hearing tests from June 2011 to June 2018 in Guangzhou Women and Children\'s Medical Center were performed.
UNASSIGNED: Eight hundred and sixty-eight newborns with high risk factors were included in the study. The 57-70 days (83.5%) and 71-84 days (83.4%) group had the highest pass rate compared with 42-56 days (75.8%) and < 42 days (68.3%) group. As for different screening strategies, the pass rate of OAE(otoacoustic emissions), AABR (auto auditory brainstem response) and OAE + AABR was the highest in 57-70 days group and 71-84 days group, respectively. The OAE + AABR had the lowest pass rate compared to the other two modalities. When the pass rate was compared as different risk factors, the 57-70 days and 71-84 days group also had the highest pass rate compared with 42-56 days and < 42 days group and the pass rate had no significant differences among various risk factors group.
UNASSIGNED: Our results showed that all the pass rate of OAE, AABR and OAE + AABR was the highest in 57-70 days group and 71-84 days group with significant difference, suggesting that the delayed screening time (>57 days) may increase the re-screening pass rate and reduce anxiety of parents, which is of great significance for clinical work.

Objective: To compare the hearing screening results of two-step transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and one-step automatic auditory brainstem response (AABR) in non-risk newborns, and to explore a more suitable hearing screening protocol for infants discharged within 48 h after birth in remote areas of China. Methods: To analyze the age effect on pass rate for hearing screening, 2005 newborns were divided into three groups according to screening time after birth: <24, 24-48, and 48-72 h. All subjects received TEOAE + AABR test as first hearing screen, and those who failed in any test were rescreened with TEOAE + AABR at 6 weeks after birth. The first screening results of AABR and TEOAE were compared among the three groups. The results of two-step TEOAE screening and one-step AABR screening were compared for newborns who were discharged within 48 h. The time spent on screening was recorded for TEOAE and AABR. Results: The pass rate of TEOAE and AABR increased significantly with the increase of first screening time (P < 0.05), and the false positive rate decreased significantly with the increase of first screening time (P < 0.05). The failure rate of first screening of AABR within 48 h was 7.31%, which was significantly lower than that of TEOAE (9.93%) (P < 0.05). The average time spent on AABR was 12.51 ± 6.36 min, which was significantly higher than that of TEOAE (4.05 ± 1.56 min, P < 0.05). The failure rate of TEOAE two-step screening was 1.59%, which was significantly lower than one-step AABR. Conclusions: Compared with TEOAE, AABR screening within 48 h after birth can reduce the failure rate and false positive rate of first screening. However, compared with TEOAE two-step screening, one-step AABR screening has higher referral rate for audiological diagnosis. In remote areas of China, especially in hospitals with high delivery rate, one-step AABR screening is not feasible, and two-step TEOAE screening protocol is still applicable to UNHS screening as more and more infants discharged within 48 h after birth.

The role of auditory efferent feedback from the medial olivocochlear system (MOCS) and the middle-ear-muscle (MEM) reflex in tonal detection tasks for humans in the presence of noise is not clearly understood. Past studies have yielded inconsistent results on the relationship between efferent feedback and tonal detection thresholds. This study attempts to address this inconsistency. Fifteen human subjects with normal hearing participated in an experiment where they were asked to identify an alarm signal in the presence of 80 dBA background (pink) noise. Masked detection thresholds were estimated using the method of two-interval forced choice (2IFC). Contralateral suppression of transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) was measured to estimate the strength of auditory efferent feedback. Subsequent correlation analysis revealed that the contralateral suppression of TEOAEs was significantly negatively correlated (r = -0.526, n = 15, p = 0.0438) with alarm-in-noise (AIN) detection thresholds under negative signal-to-noise conditions. The result implies that the stronger the auditory efferent feedback, the worse the detection thresholds and thus the poorer the tonal detection performance in the presence of loud noise.

The study was to investigate the hearing function in subjects with non-diabetic nephropathy and diabetic nephropathy and analyze related clinical indexes of hearing impairment.
We assessed the hearing function of 30 diabetics (DM group), 30 patients with early diabetic nephropathy (DN group) and 30 healthy subjects (NC group) using pure-tone audiometry, otoacoustic emissions, electronystagmography, caloric test and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP).
Pure-tone audiogram demonstrated a deficit at frequencies with elevated threshold in both DM and DN group (p < 0.05). DN group showed a significant deficit with elevated threshold at 250, 8000 Hz in left ear and 8000 Hz in right ear compared to those of DM group (p < 0.05). GHbA1c, waist and ACR were correlated with elevated thresholds. The DPOAE amplitudes of DN group were obviously smaller in the left ear (4 kHz) and right ear (0.75, 2, 4 kHz) while those of DM group were significantly smaller in the right ear (0.75, 4 kHz) than controls (p < 0.05). A larger proportion of subjects with vestibular dysfunction and VEMP response absence were observed in DN group.
Type 2 DM and DN patients have shown clinical hearing impairment and vestibular dysfunction. GHbA1c, waist, ACR, BMI, TC and diabetic retinopathy may affect hearing and vestibular function.

The prevalence of hearing loss in newborns and infants is estimated between 1 to 3.47 cases per 1000 live births. Early diagnosis and rehabilitation of congenital hearing loss are mandatory in order to achieve a satisfactory linguistic and cognitive development. Without appropriate opportunities to learn language, these children will fall behind their normal hearing peers in communication, cognition, reading and socio-emotional development. After promising results, neonatal screening for hearing loss and audiological evaluation are becoming more extensively carried out. In planning universal neonatal hearing screening programs, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses are the gold standard for the screening and diagnosis program. However, there is no consensus regarding the use of audiometry and other electrophysiological tests (such as auditory steady-state responses) in current practices. Several screening and audiological assessment procedures have been described and advocated all around the world. But, a systematic scheme of performing diagnosis in the pediatric audiology population is lacking. A consensus conference was held at the International Federation of Oto-rhino-laryngological Societies Congress, in June 2017, to discuss the different current practices and to identify the best neonatal hearing screening and audiological assessment management. This article is intended to provide professionals with recommendations about the \"best practice\" based on consensus opinion of the session\'s speakers, and a review of the literature on the efficacy of various assessment options for children with hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE: More attention has recently been focused on auditory impairment of young type 1 diabetics. This study aimed to evaluate auditory function of young type 1 diabetics and the correlation between clinical indexes and hearing impairment.
METHODS: We evaluated the auditory function of 50 type 1 diabetics and 50 healthy subjects. Clinical indexes were measured along with analyzing their relation of auditory function.
RESULTS: Type 1 diabetic patients demonstrated a deficit with elevated thresholds at right ear and left ear when compared to healthy controls (p <0.01). The elevated auditory threshold was significantly related with HDL-cholesterol, diabetes duration, and systemic blood pressure (p <0.05). Moreover, latencies of right ear (wave III, V and interwave I-V) and left ear (wave III, V and interwave I-III, I-V) in diabetic group significantly increased compared to those in control subjects (p <0.01). Auditory brainstem response was significantly related with GHbA1C and microalbuminuria (p <0.01). Furthermore, distortion product evoked otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) of diabetes group were statistically significant in right ears at 4.0, 6.0 kHz and in left ears at 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 kHz (p <0.01) compared with those of controls. Diabetic patients demonstrated lower amplitude responses of the right ear than the left ear at 8.0 kHz. Only triglyceride was positively correlated to the hearing impairment defined by DPOAE (p <0.01). There was no significance of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) between groups. TEOAE was associated with age and GHbA1C (p <0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Type 1 diabetics exerted higher auditory threshold, slower auditory conduction time and cochlear impairment. HDL-cholesterol, diabetes duration, systemic blood pressure, microalbuminuria, GHbA1C, triglyceride, and age may affect the auditory function of type 1 diabetics.

Previous research findings have suggested that individuals with different blood groups demonstrate varied haematological risk factors for a wide range of disorders, including noise-induced hearing loss. The present study investigated the effects of blood group on several features of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) including magnitude, as OAE status is indicative of cochlear function. A total of 60 normal hearing females aged between 18 and 26 years were included in the study. Measurements of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs), transient-evoked emissions (TEOAEs) and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were obtained from both ears for all participants, who included equal numbers of A, B, O and AB positive blood groups. Participants with blood group O had significantly fewer occurrences of SOAEs and lower DPOAE amplitudes at some frequencies compared to participants with blood group B. There was a general trend for blood group O individuals to show reduced OAE amplitudes compared to participants from A, B, and AB groups. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that individuals with different blood groups may have different OAE amplitude values. The results support the need for further investigation on the effects of blood group on OAE status.