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Hearing function can affect communication skills and especially speech and language abilities.As a result, most of the attempts in behavioral audiometry have focused on the improvement and rectification of the techniques for hearing evaluations of the infants and children.Crib-O-gram and the methods suggested by northern & Downs are some of the mentioned protocols.For years a significant advance for evaluating hearing sensitivity of children have been taken place. say, behavioral visual audiometry, VRA, TROCA and play audiometry. some studies also have been performed regarding to the use of BOA technique in mental retarded children and its success in evaluating hearing sensitivity in such children.other protocols use rewarding techniques for reinforcing child's responses which have been demonstrated to be success in the evaluation.In addition,by comparing the results of frequency and intensity discrimination (by means of Luescher test), the changes in the resonance frequency of the outer ear and loudness comfortable level(LDL), one can study the process of hearing development in children.

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 This is a study performed following the study between the years 1980 to 1982 to investigate risk factors and diagnostic and rehabilitative patterns in a group of newborns suffered hearing loss in a city centre. The current findings which have been attained from 1983 to 1988 manifested that just one third of the deaf newborns can be tracked by means of common auditory evaluation tests in the Neonatal Intense Care Unit (NICU). Although these newborns have been followed sooner than the infants in the Well Baby Nursery (WBN). The age for enrolling in the Parent-Infant Program for both groups is approximately 20 month. During these 8 years it has been detected that the common age for taking part in the rehabilitative programs for newborns is 1 year or more greater than that recommended by Joint Committee on infant hearing

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In the current study the hearing of 400 ears of male and female students were examined. The gola of this study was to:1. Determine the possibility of hearing loss in the mentioned age group.2. Find out whether gender can affect hearing loss or not?The results of this study are as follows:1. 8.5% of the examined ears appeared to be impacted by cerumen in otoscopic evaluation.2. 11.6% of the ears manifested to suffer tympanic membrane abnormalities.3. The rate of tymapanic membrane abnormalities and hearing loss in the examined girls was higher than boys.

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Background: hearing loss is a major health care problem that tends to retard the developmental milestones of children. It takes early detection and intervention to avoid a permanent loss in acquisition of speech and cognitive functions. Hence, the importance of hearing screening in all children especially in the developing world for accurate statistics and early intervention is clear. This work was aimed at predicting hearing in children by means of acoustic reflex measurements
Method: In this study which was performed in 1995, 146 ears(86 children aged between 5-10years old referring to audio logy clinic in Tehran university of medical sciences between august 1995 and February 1996) were evaluated (amongst 95 were normal and 51 ears with SNHL<84dB).the methods Niemeyer and Destrehan formula ,Lilly2 equation, un weighed Sensitivity prediction by acoustic reflex, weighed sensitivity prediction by acoustic reflex to establish their clinical viability.
Results: findings demonstrated that weighed sensitivity prediction by acoustic reflex(WASPAR) have a good correlation with conventional audiometric evaluation(K=.78) and also it has good sensitivity, Specificity , Negative predicted value(NPA) and positive predicted value (PPV).
Conclusion: In case that conventional audiometry is not applicable, WASPAR is a good objective choice in lieu of subjective tests.

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There are some insufficiencies in the Hearing Conservation Program that are exponentially exacerbated by lack of the standard and observation for this program and little interest in team work activities. Regarding the noise measurement instruments, limitation in the measurement lack of the equipments and also incomplete evaluation are clearly detected.The performed investigations have demonstrated that most of the industrial centers have no baseline auditory curve and sometimes do not intend in hearing screening evaluations. that is mainly because of the need for sound protected environment and calibrated instruments and also 14 hours of sound rest before the experiment.Her the problems in performing hearing conservation program is discussed in more details.

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Objectives: determining the frequency distribution of hearing disorders among the student of public elementary school by Otoscopy, Puretone Audiometry, Impedance Audiometiy and questionnaires.
Methods and Materials:This study was carried out in a cross - sectional descriptive survey - on 1200 students (600 girls and 600 boys) among the student of primary school of Neishabbor, academic year 1376-77
Results:1- Otoscopy examination abnormal conditions of external ear canal was found in 14.1% of cases mostly impacted ceruman (13.6%) Abnormal conditions of tympanic membrane (0.4%) and foreign body 0.16%. Abnormal conditions of external ear canal was statistically unmeaningful. (P V=0 .8)
2- Impedance Audiometiy: 5. 75% Abnormal tympanograms were observed, mostly type C (3.15%)
3- Pure Tone Audiometry: An overall 5.5% hearing loss was found in this population including 3% bilateral and 1.25% unilateral hearing loss. Only conductive hearing loss was found in this population (2.7% in right ear and 3.5% in left ear), PV=0.9.Hearing loss observed mostly in girls but the difference was slight.Family background showed no effects on the hearing disorders.9.8% of cases were in need of medical care and 0.3% were in need of rehabilitation services.Only 28.8% of parents, 36.3% of teachers and 40.9% of afflicted students were aware of the problem.

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Objective: Infants hearing screening as one of the best methods of identification and hence early intervention to prevent side effects and appropriate rehabilitation if necessary.
Methods and Materials: 175 0-7 day infants were tested in two groups (112 normal history and 63 high risked) with a dumb (for low frequencies)and receiver (for high Frequencies) at 90-95 dB SPL in three hospitals. The acceptable responses were auropalpebral reflex (APR) , startle and stop of movements.
Results: Of the first group 51% showed APR, 10% startle, 22 % Both and 17% no response. Of the second group 47% showed APR, 24% startle, 11% both reflexes and 18% no response.
Conclusion: 14 cases (8 girls and 6 boys) out of 175 infnats showed no response.

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Objective: A survey on hearing state of blind schoolboys in Tehran.
Method and Material: This cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted on 640 ears of 320 blind schoolboys of 5-23 years old as a hearing screening in Tehran blind schools, 2000-01.
Results: 20.94% was hearing-impaired of whom 13.75% had bilateral and 7.19% had unilateral hearing loss. 15.16% of students suffered from sensory-neural hearing loss (SNHL), 1.56% from conductive hearing loss (CHL) and 0.62% from mixed hearing loss (MHL), that is, SNHL occurred 10 times more than CHL. Hearing loss was often mild and moderate, and audiogram configuration was primarily high tone loss (HTL). On the whole, 8.13% of students needed medical treatment, 15.13% needed audiological rehabilitation and 3.44% of them were in need of both medical and rehabilitation Intervention. General information about hearing problem was very low among students, their parents and teachers, which was 26.87%, 20.9% and 22.39%, respectively. There is significant relation between SNHL and parents&apos relationship.
Conclusion: The prevalence of hearing loss in blinds is higher than in normal-visions. It is often sensorineural. So, it is important to identify these children through hearing screening (Using more high frequencies) and to conduct medical as well as rehabilitative intervention.

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Objective: Survery and comparison between the physical characteristics of Distortion-Product Otoacoustic Emissions of 1-59 day-old normal-hearing newborns refered to TUMS, Rehabilitation School , Audiology department , 2002
Method & Material : This analytical-descriptive study was conducted on the ears of 102 easy method selected newborns. The tests included: otoscopy , BOA, Immittance audiometry , DPOAEs, and ABR if necessary. The amplitude and frequency of 2f1-f2 emissions of DPOAEs evoked by two pure tones (L1=65 dBSPL , L2=50 dBSPL and f2/f1=1.2) were also calculated.
Results: 1-All normal hearing newborns have normal DPOAEs. No significant difference was observed in test-retest. 2- The amplitude of the DPOAEs to the right ear is significantly greater than the amplitude of the left ear (P<00.05). 3- No significant difference was observed between newborn&aposs DPOAEs in terms of their gender.
Conclusion: DPOAEs could be measured quickly and noninvasively and are excellent tools for the screening of newborn hearing loss. The results are valid only within the Context of this research.

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Background and Aim: Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions affecting the elderly. The impacts of hearing loss are depression, social isolation, and functional disability, particularly for those who have not yet been evaluated or treated for hearing loss. The aim of this study was audiologic screening and assessing candidacy  for hearing aid in the elderly people.
Materials and Methods: This analytic-cross sectional study was performed on 52 older adults aged from 51 to 97. Subjects were evaluated according to ASHA guidelines for audiologic screening in adults (1997). Using HHIE-S as hearing disability screening instrument, the need for hearing aid use was evaluated.
Results: About 86 percent of subjects had some degree of hearing loss. There were significant correlation between PTA(0.5, 1, 2) KHz>26 and HHIE-S>10. According to these two factors 21.2 percent of subjects needed to use hearing aid while 18 percent of this group had hearing aids.
Conclusion: There is high prevalence of hearing loss among older adults, thus it&aposs necessary to evaluate the need for hearing aid in this rapidly growing population. Among different factors affecting hearing aid candidacy the most correlated were PTA(0.5, 1, 2)KHz>26 and HHIE-S>10. Therefore according to this study by combination of these two evaluation of hearing aid candidacy would be more appropriate.

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Background and Aim: Early diagnosis of hearing loss lead to early intervention and improvement of developmental skills of children with hearing loss. The present study aimed to determine the mean age of hearing loss diagnosis and cochlear implantation (CI) in hearing impaired children and to compare the age of performing cochlear implantation in children who were identified by newborn hearing screening with those who were not.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 96 children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who received cochlear implantation in Amir-e-Alam cochlear implantation center between the years 2008 and 2010. For data gathering, we assessed subjects&apos medical archives, interviewed with their parents and took medical history including demographic information, birth history and hearing loss history.
Results: Mean age of hearing loss suspicion, diagnosis, hearing aids administration, Initiation of rehabilitation program, performing cochlear implantation and mean age when cochlear implantation was utilized were 6.73 (SD=5.79), 9.35 (SD=5.79), 13.41 (SD=6.10), 16 (SD=6.36), 41.25 (SD=11.12), and 42.15 (SD=11.00) months, respectively. There was statistically significant difference between them (p<0.05). 43.8% of hearing impaired children had been identified by newborn hearing screening. There was statistically significant difference between cochlear implantation operation age of children who were identified by newborn hearing screening with those who were not (p<0.0001).
Conclusion: In spite of notable reduction in the age of hearing loss diagnosis and intervention during recent years, compared to international indices it is still tardy. Conducting newborn hearing screening can significantly reduce these ages.

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Background and Aim: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) established standards for neonatal hearing screening programs in 1999. The main purpose of this study was to achieve exact statistical data of this program in Ahvaz, Iran, and to compare these results with the standards of American Academy of Pediatrics.

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, the data of neonatal hearing program in Ahvaz west health center from 2008 to 2011 were reviewed. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics.

Results: From 25073 neonates, 25 had hearing loss. The false positive and referral ratio to the diagnosis stage were 2.6 and 0.48 percent, respectively. 92 percent of hard of hearing infants were diagnosed before three months of life.

Conclusion: In comparison with the standards of American Academy of Pediatrics, all of the items, except two, were included completely or relatively complete. But, more efforts must be done to achieve the whole standards which are available.

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Background and Aim: Universal newborn hearing screening program (UNHS) using otoacoustic emission (OAE) has been expanded dramatically. The aim of this study was to compare the characteristics of OAE in different time periods.

Methods: In this cohort study, 54 well babies were tested using screening transient-evoked otoacoustic emission in 12, 24, 36, 48 hours and 1 week of their age in Tamin Ejtemaii hospital of Zahedan, Iran. Parameters of "pass" and "fail" level, duration of the test, repetition rate for getting definite result and cooperation level of the parents were analyzed.

Results: The failing rate decreased markedly with age. The major part of this decrement concerned to the age of 12 to 24 hours (left ear: p=0.012 and right ear: p=0.057). Only for the age of 12 hours, the test repetition reduced the failing rate significantly (left ear: p=0.001 and right ear: p<0.001). The test duration reduced significantly with age increment and decreased from the 75 second in age 12 hours to 21 second in age of 24 hours. The test time median for 36, 48 hours and one week of age was 13, 8.4 and 14.3 second, respectively. Among the 54 parents requested to come back for retest one week later, 5 (9.3%) cooperated.

Conclusion: Age effect on referral rate were confirmed in this study high referral rate and poor parent cooperation were the main problems in universal newborn hearing screening program in Zahedan city.