Liaqat Al, Tayyaba Khawar Butt, Shazia Maqbool, Samra Zohra, Muhammad Ali Khan, Ghulam Raza Baloch.
Auditory brainstem response in pediatric Audiology.
Pak Paed J Jan ;29(1):19-25.

Objectives: To evaluate application of auditory brainstem evoked response (ABR) in children. Design: Retrospective study from Jan 2002 to Dec 2004. Settings: Department of Paediatric Audiology, The Children`s Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, Lahore. Materials & methods: Auditory brainstem response (ABR), an objective hearing assessment technique, was carried out in 1641 children and different variables were documented for analysis. Results: A total of 14359 patients visited the hospital, out of which auditory brainstem response (ABR) was done in 1641 children. 1048 (63.86%) were males and 593 (36.14%) were females. Age range was 13 days to 15 years. Distraction test (DT) was done in 3806 (26.51%), behavioral observation audiometry (BOA) in 3458 (24.08%), pure tone audiometry (PTA) in 2916 (20.31%), visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) in 2538 (17.67%) and ABR in 1641 (11.43%) children. Among the children tested with auditory brainstem response (ABR), 44 (2.68%) were below the age of one month, 696 (42.41%) between one month to one year, 710 (43.27%) one year to 5 years and 191 (11.64%) were above 5 years. 492 (29.98%) children were found normal, 78. (4.75%) with mild degree hearing loss, 241 (14.69%) with moderate hearing loss, 123 (7.49%) with severe and 707 (43.09%) children with profound hearing loss. Among the patients assessed for hearing with ABR, 42 (2.56%) were newborn, 662 (40.34%) were mentally retarded, 680 (41.44%) were with delayed development, 240 (14.63%) were difficult to test children and 17 (1.03%) formed a miscellaneous group. Screening ABR was performed in 545 (33.21%) children and diagnostic ABR in 1096 (66.79%). Conclusion: It was concluded that auditory brainstem response was an objective and valuable audiological test for children with delayed development and mental retardation. It has diagnostic significance in children between the age of one month to 5 years with profound degree of hearing impairment.

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