Hearing Loss in an Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Population: Identification by Auditory Brainstem Response

Abstract

\s=b\ We report the results of auditory brainstem response testing of 122 profoundly retarded institutionalized children, a segment of the retarded population heretofore generally regarded as untestable by behavioral audiometry. Major findings include: (1) 32% of the study population showed, by auditory brainstem response, hearing loss exceeding 20 decibels of hearing level in one or both ears (12% showed conductive loss and 20% sensorineural loss); (2) of the 15.6% with evidence of bilateral sensorineural loss, 7.37% had losses in the 30-to 50-dB range, and 8.19% had losses of 60 dB or greater; and (3) evidence of abnormal brain-stem function was found in 11%. Results of otologic examinations and audiologic habilitative follow-up in selected children are also reported.

Medical aspects of ageing in a population with intellectual disability: II. Hearing impairment

“…Failure on one or both ears should prompt referral for audiometry and specialistic assessment in all cases. Brainstem-evoked-response audiometry (BERA) is a valuable objective method to assess hearing function in non-cooperative intellectually disabled individuals (Maurizi et al 1985;Widen et al 1987;Stein et al, 1987;Stein & Kraus 1988;Evenhuis et al 1992).…”

Dutch consensus on diagnosis and treatment of hearing impairment in children and adults with intellectual disability

“…Auditory brainstem response audiometry (ABR) (lacobson 1985;Drift et al 1987), an objective method of audiometry not requiring any active cooperation, has been successfully applied in difficult-to-test children and adults with intellectual disability (Stein et al 1987;Evenhuis et al 1992;Maurizi et al 1995). It quantifies high-frequency hearing loss for each ear apart with an estimate of conductive losses.…”

Auditory Evoked Potentials with Special Populations

“…Stein, et al 16 reported the results on a segment of the retarded population that, until recently, was generally regarded as untestable by behavioral audiometry. A total of 122 profoundly retarded institu tionalized children representing 85 per cent of the total population of one institu tion, ranging in age from 7 months to 18 years, were tested by ABR.…”