Hearing Screening Outcomes in Infants of Pregestational Diabetic Mothers

Abstract

Purpose: Hearing screening results for newborns of diabetic mothers were compared with those of nondiabetic controls. Method: This study was a retrospective chart review of mothers with pregestational diabetes mellitus and their neonates ( n =73) who received newborn hearing screening between January 1, 2000, and May 1, 2002. A group of nondiabetic mothers and their infants ( n =73), with birth dates that matched the diabetic group, served as controls. A 2-tiered hearing screening protocol, employing distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) and automated auditory brainstem response (A-ABR) screening techniques, was used. Results: The DPOAE screening failure rate was 5.5% (4/73) for babies in the nondiabetic control group and 11.0% (8/73) for infants of diabetic mothers; this difference was not statistically significant. The A-ABR failure rate was 9.1% (1/11) for the diabetic group compared with 0% (0/4) for the controls, but the A-ABR was measured for only a small number of participants in each group. The frequency of premature birth and abnormal birth weight was significantly greater for the infants of diabetic mothers compared with controls. Conclusions: Given the greater frequency of prematurity and abnormal birth weight in the population of neonates born to diabetics, additional research using A-ABR is recommended.