Wi th the universal hearing screening we can prevent auditory disorders in children. Aim:To characterize the program of neonatal auditory screening into a population of neonates.Materials and Methods: longitudinal cohort study. We surveyed the clinic's database on neonatal auditory screening in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia.Results: Among the 6,889 newborns in the database, 5,700 (82.7%) passed and 1,189 (17.3%) failed the first screening. Of the group which failed 900 (75.7 %) returned for retesting. Among these, 15 (0.22 %) newborns had hearing loss confirmed. The most prevalent was neural hearing loss with 46.7% confirmed cases; they had hyperbilirubinemia as the most prevalent risk factor.Conclusion: hyperbilirubinemia was the most prevalent risk factor found in the group of hearing impaired children. The prevalence of hearing loss was of 2 in 1,000 newborns. It is important to highlight the relevant association between neural hearing loss caused by hyperbilirubinemia and sensorineural hearing loss of unknown causes. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2010;76(5):605-10. ORIGINAL ARTICLE