OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of hearing loss and to analyze the results of newborn hearing screening and audiological diagnosis in private health care systems. METHODS Cross-sectional and retrospective study in a database of newborn hearing screening performed by a private clinic in neonates born in private hospitals of Porto Velho, Rondônia, Northern Brazil. The screening results, the risk for hearing loss, the risk indicators for hearing loss and the diagnosis were descriptively analyzed. Newborns cared in rooming in with their mothers were compared to those admitted to the Intensive Care Unit regarding risk factors for hearing loss. RESULTS: Among 1,146 (100%) enrolled newborns, 1,064 (92.8%) passed and 82 (7.2%) failed the hearing screening. Among all screened neonates, 1,063 (92.8%) were cared in rooming and 83 (7.2%) needed intensive care; 986 (86.0%) were considered at low risk and 160 (14.0%) at high risk for hearing problems. Of the 160 patients identified as having high risk for hearing loss, 83 (37.7%) were admitted to an hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit, 76 (34.5%) used ototoxic drugs and 38 (17.2%) had a family history of hearing loss in childhood. Hearing loss was diagnosed in two patients (0.2% of the screened sample). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of hearing loss in newborns from private hospitals was two cases per 1,000 evaluated patients. The use of ototoxic drugs, admission to Intensive Care Unit and family history of hearing loss were the most common risk factors for hearing loss in the studied population.

It was found that the subjects of the study were very happy with the use of hearing aids, although satisfaction was not related to the variables: age, gender, time of use and device type. In general, participants with higher daily use are happier.

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Objective: To study the perception about environmental noise of professionals and parents of neonates assisted in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and to compare the findings with the measured noise levels.Methods: The perception of parents and professionals that work in the NICU in relation to the presence of noise was evaluated by a questionnaire. Sound levels in three rooms and in the corridor of that environment were registered 24 hours/day during 9 days by the Quest Q-400 Noise Dosimeter and analyzed by QuestSuíte MR software. Kruskal-Wallis e Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the noise levels in different places, being significant p<0.05.Results: The average noise levels in the intensive, intermediary care, isolation rooms and in the corridor of the unit were 64.8, 62.1, 63.8 and 61.9dBA, respectively (p<0.001). Health professionals qualified the noise as present and intense, but parents evaluated the noise as moderate. Health professionals judged their own behaviors as noisy, and parents believe that they do not contribute to the existent noise at the place. Health professionals believed that newborns and professionals who work in the NICU may be injured by the noise, but this was not true for parents. All groups considered possible to reduce noise.Conclusions: The opinion about noise intensity differed significantly among health professionals and parents. Health professionals were more coherent about NICU's measured and perceived noise levels. Key Artigo OriginalPalavras-chave: ruído; recém-nascido; medição de ruído; neonatologia.

The subjects included in the study have benefitted from being fitted with hearing aids and have been very happy with the outcome of the treatment.