Hearing Screening for School Children

Abstract

Hearing screening is an integral component in virtually all school health screening programs. It has long been recognized that hearing loss will have negative consequences on children‘s communication abilities and educational performance unless early identification and management is arranged. School-based screening allows for the detection of children with hearing loss who have not been identified at an earlier stage (for example, in a newborn hearing screening program) and for children who have developed hearing loss after early childhood (for example, children with a progressive, inherited hearing disorder). This chapter provides an overview of pure-tone audiometry, the standard method for hearing screening in school children, and details the main established guidelines for screen protocols. Other hearing and ear health methods have also been considered for school-based programs, such as tympanometry, otoacoustic emission recording, and teacher/parent questionnaires. These procedures are discussed and their advantages and limitations outlined. Conventional hearing screening programs are not effective in detecting children with high tone, noise-induced hearing loss or children with auditory processing difficulties. Potential alternative screening protocols to identify children with such problems are presented. Advances in technology may alter the practice of hearing screening in the future. For example, telehealth-based screening may serve a useful role in future programs and genetic screening for hearing disorders may enhance the early detection of some cases of hearing loss.