The Role of the Acoustic Impedance Bridge in Paediatric Screening

Pure tone audiometry is the most widely used method of screening for hearing disorders in children. Unfortunately it does have a number of drawbacks that markedly diminish its utility especially when employed in testing young children with mild conductive losses. Secretory otitis is undoubtedly the commonest cause of such hearing losses and there is growing evidence that it may cause educational retardation. It is suggested that screening with an acoustic impedance instrument would facilitate the early detection of mild conductive hearing loss, and coupled with a simple pure tone screen would improve the efficiency of auditory screening.