A Comparison of Screening Methods in School‐Aged Children

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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare the findings of 3 different hearing screening methods in school‐aged children.STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective testing of second‐ and third‐grade students in their schools was carried out.METHODS: Three hundred children (599 ears) were screened by using 3 test modalities, pure‐tone audiometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE), and tympanometry.RESULTS: All of the tests were normal in 532 ears (89%), and all were abnormal in 12 ears (2%). Tympanometry yielded the most abnormalities (8.3%), and pure‐tone testing demonstrated the fewest (3.3%), with a positive rate of 6.3% for DPOAE testing. False‐positive rates were 1.2%, 4.2%, and 6.4% for pure tones, DPOAE, and tympanometry, respectively, when normal results on pure‐tones or DPOAE were taken to represent true hearing.CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: We continue to recommend pure‐tone testing as an effective screening method, with follow‐up by using otoacoustic emissions in those who fail the pure‐tone test.