Title

Auditory dysfunction and perinatal risk factors in high-risk infants: Insights from brainstem evoked response audiometry

Authors

Mahima Sharma^1,*, Madhuri Sharma¹, Raghav Mehta², Arpana Singhal³ & Deepandra Garg⁴

Affiliation

¹Department of Physiology, RUHS College of Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; ²Department of ENT, RUHS College of Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; ³Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, RUHS College of Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; ⁴Department of Paediatrics, RUHS College of Medical Sciences, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Mahima Sharma - E-mail: drmahima1980@gmail.com
Madhuri Sharma - E-mail: madhurisharma26@gmail.com
Raghav Mehta - E-mail: drraghavmehta@rediffmail.com
Arpana Singhal - E-mail: arpanasinghal@gmail.com
Deepandra Garg - E-mail: dr.deepandra@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received October 1, 2025; Revised October 31, 2025; Accepted October 31, 2025, Published October 31, 2025

Abstract

Congenital hearing impairment is a major developmental disability, especially among infants with perinatal risk factors. This cross-sectional study evaluated 150 high-risk neonates in a NICU using Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA). Abnormal BERA findings were observed in 30% of infants, with significant associations to severe hyperbilirubinemia, perinatal asphyxia and prolonged mechanical ventilation (p<0.001). Mean wave V latency was notably prolonged in infants with abnormal results. Thus, we show the importance of universal newborn hearing screening, particularly in high-risk groups, to enable early diagnosis and timely intervention.

Keywords

Hearing loss, brainstem evoked response audiometry, high-risk infants, perinatal risk factors, newborn screening, auditory neuropathy.

Citation

Sharma et al. Bioinformation 21(10): 3715-3719 (2025)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.