Role of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials in Reducing the Age at Hearing Aid Fitting in Children With Hearing Loss Identified by Newborn Hearing Screening

Recording of free-field cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) responses to speech tokens was introduced into the audiology management for infants with a permanent childhood hearing impairment (PCHI) during 2011–2015 at a U.K. service. Children with bilateral PCHI were studied from two sequential cohorts. Thirty-four children had followed an audiology pathway prior to CAEP introduction, and 44 children followed a pathway after the introduction of CAEP and were tested with unaided and aided CAEP responses. Data analysis explored the age of diagnosis, hearing aid fitting, and referral for cochlear implant (CI) assessment for each of these groups. CAEP offered a novel educative process for the parents and audiologists supporting decision-making for hearing aid fitting and CI referral. Delays in hearing aid fitting and CI referral were categorized as being due to the audiologist’s recommendation or parental choice. Results showed that the median age of hearing aid fitting prior to CAEP introduction was 9.2...