Preschool hearing screening: evaluation of a parental questionnaire

Objective: To evaluate the validity of a parental questionnaire used to screen preschool children for persistent hearing impairment. Methodology: Six-hundred and eighty-five children aged 4–5 years from a Metropolitan area of Adelaide, Australia, were enrolled. Each parent completed a questionnaire aimed at detecting parental concerns about hearing impairment. Screening audiometry was then performed. Children who failed the initial audiometry screening underwent repeat audiometry screening 6–8 weeks later. The audiometry and questionnaire data were then compared. Results: Of the 657 children who successfully completed initial audiometry, 544 (83%) passed and 113 (17%) failed. Of the 84 children who had follow-up audiometry, 64 (76%) passed. Parental concerns were identified on questionnaire in 50% of all children. Neither individual questions nor the number of concerns were found to relate to audiometry results. Compared with audiometry results, the hearing screening questionnaire had a sensitivity of 56% and specificity of 52%. Conclusions: The hearing questionnaire used in this study and in several Australian states is an ineffective screening test for detecting persistent hearing loss.