PP1124 - Pediatric Audiologists’ Current Practice Protocols for Electrophysiologic Testing in Newborns

Abstract: The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is an evoked potential used to assess neural integrity and estimate hearing thresholds. Guidelines set forth by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH, 2019) state that infants who refer on their newborn hearing screening should have a diagnostic evaluation by the age of three months. This is crucial for early intervention. Further, JCIH has specific recommendations for how testing should be completed. The current study will survey pediatric hospitals and clinics to collect information on current diagnostic protocols used to assess hearing in the newborn population. Results will ideally help inform future practice.

Summary: Rationale/

Purpose:  Slow protocols and frequent repeat testing in the newborn population can delay diagnosis of hearing loss, thus delaying early intervention. It has been reported, and anecdotally observed, that audiologists often lack confidence in results of objective test methods, such as auditory steady state response (ASSR) and response detection algorithms, such as Fmp (Sininger et al., 2020). Surveying pediatric audiologists about current practice protocols will shed light on what is actually happening in clinics across the country. The purpose of this is twofold: to determine what technologies are underutilized, and to provide clear guidance for electrophysiologic testing in newborns to audiologists. This could be especially beneficial for audiologists who do not work with primarily a pediatric population but perform this type of testing.  


Methods:  
Participants: The participants for this study are pediatric audiologists. Emails were obtained by a web search of pediatric hospitals and clinics in all 50 states. Participants gave consent prior to completing the survey. 
Materials/Procedure: Using a generic email, the description and background of the survey, as well as the survey link, will be emailed to the participants. The survey will be available via web-based survey format, Qualtrics. The 17-question survey includes three demographic questions. The remaining questions are meant to evaluate current practice protocols for electrophysiologic testing in newborns. The survey was designed to be brief in the hope of better return rate. 

Results &

Conclusions:  To be determined. Survey is scheduled to go out on 11/14/22. 

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate their current practice protocols for newborn assessment and determine if updates are necessary