Hearing Test Help

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Specializes in Community and Public Health, Addictions Nursing.

I have an ancient piece of equipment to do hearing screenings on the kiddos with. It's 20 years old and is called the Ero-Scan DPOAE by Maico, in case anyone has seen or used it before. I almost never get a hearing test result with it! I know that hearing test systems are super pricey, but I'm wondering if the fact that my equipment is so old could convince my boss to pay for something new. Any thoughts? Recommendations? Tips on how to get a good hearing test result?

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Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

As long as it passes the calibration test every year it should be OK. My Audiometer is over 20 years old.

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Specializes in Community and Public Health, Addictions Nursing.
As long as it passes the calibration test every year it should be OK. My Audiometer is over 20 years old.

Good to know that this equipment is not too old! Sounds more like user error instead of equipment error, and I can work with that.

Not gonna lie, I found an old pure tone audiometer from the 70s or 80s in a closet this summer, and I've been tempted to use it with the kiddos. I'd much rather make a game of sounds than sticking plastic in tiny ear canals.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, school nursing.

My audiometer was made in 1995. It may be old, but it passes calibration every year, and is much nicer than the cheap plastic one that I had at my previous school.

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Specializes in IMC, school nursing.
My audiometer was made in 1995. It may be old, but it passes calibration every year, and is much nicer than the cheap plastic one that I had at my previous school.

1995 was just yesterday, right?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, school nursing.
1995 was just yesterday, right?

Absolutely! I was married in 1995, and it does seem like yesterday.

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You may want to check your states guidelines for hearing screening. The

Ero-Scan DPOAE

is an otoacoustic emissions screener, and is generally not the first line device for general hearing screenings. In Texas, the only accepted method is pure tone screening with an audiometer.

Otoacoustic emissions screeners do not measure hearing sensitivity, it is just a measure of the outer hair cell function in the cochlea.

Otoacoustic emissions screeners and tympanometry can be used in conjunction with pure tone screening in some states, but is generally reserved for the very young (under 3) or those that are unable to screen with pure tone audiometry.

My district has the same Ero-scan, but we only use it on students who we suspect may be truly hearing impaired (ie-who failed pure tone and have no visible ear issues that failure can be attributed to-no wax, fluid, infection, etc). And for me too, it is very difficult to get a seal good enough to get a reading-especially on the younger kids.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
You may want to check your states guidelines for hearing screening. The

Ero-Scan DPOAE

is an otoacoustic emissions screener, and is generally not the first line device for general hearing screenings. In Texas, the only accepted method is pure tone screening with an audiometer.

Otoacoustic emissions screeners do not measure hearing sensitivity, it is just a measure of the outer hair cell function in the cochlea.

Otoacoustic emissions screeners and tympanometry can be used in conjunction with pure tone screening in some states, but is generally reserved for the very young (under 3) or those that are unable to screen with pure tone audiometry.

My district has the same Ero-scan, but we only use it on students who we suspect may be truly hearing impaired (ie-who failed pure tone and have no visible ear issues that failure can be attributed to-no wax, fluid, infection, etc). And for me too, it is very difficult to get a seal good enough to get a reading-especially on the younger kids.

This is fascinating!! I learned a new thing! Back to the original question - is there any reason NOT to use the Pure Tone if it's been calibrated?

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Specializes in Community and Public Health, Addictions Nursing.
You may want to check your states guidelines for hearing screening. The

Ero-Scan DPOAE

is an otoacoustic emissions screener, and is generally not the first line device for general hearing screenings. In Texas, the only accepted method is pure tone screening with an audiometer.

Otoacoustic emissions screeners do not measure hearing sensitivity, it is just a measure of the outer hair cell function in the cochlea.

Otoacoustic emissions screeners and tympanometry can be used in conjunction with pure tone screening in some states, but is generally reserved for the very young (under 3) or those that are unable to screen with pure tone audiometry.

My district has the same Ero-scan, but we only use it on students who we suspect may be truly hearing impaired (ie-who failed pure tone and have no visible ear issues that failure can be attributed to-no wax, fluid, infection, etc). And for me too, it is very difficult to get a seal good enough to get a reading-especially on the younger kids.

Agreed- this is super helpful to know! And I'm getting some good ideas for next steps to take with our hearing screening process.

I work with 3-5 year olds, and we're a mix of state pre-k and Head Start funding. My state doesn't provide guidance on pre-k hearing screening, as it's not required until kindergarten, but I do know that kindergarten performs pure tone testing. Federal Head Start guidelines are also flexible on what type of testing to perform for hearing.

From what I was reading yesterday, 3-5 years old is when we should start to transition kids to pure tone screening instead of OAE for exactly the reasons you mentioned, SchlNrsKrn. Apparently, about 20% of kids in this age won't be able to do pure tone testing for developmental reasons, at which point OAE is the next step for screening. I'm going to keep doing some digging into this topic, and if you happen to have any good links to articles or websites, feel free to share!

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.

Mine is as old as I am. I'm 27, we celebrated our birthdays together. I call her Big Bertha. xD

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Specializes in Community and Public Health, Addictions Nursing.
Mine is as old as I am. I'm 27, we celebrated our birthdays together. I call her Big Bertha. xD

Hahahaha! That's awesome. Maybe if I name mine too it'll work better for me.

I'm starting to rethink calling my OAE screener ancient, too, because if that piece of equipment is ancient at 20 years old, then what am I?!

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UrbanHealthRN-

Been doing Pre-k for 20 years now-screening 500+ 4 year olds each year-good times! I've had great success with conditioned play audiometry-I have a box of plain wood 1" blocks (cause I've learned they need to be the same, lest you run into the kid who wants to pick just the blue ones, or the ones with the letter A) and I'll instruct the kids on the three tones they will hear (and will play them in the air at max decibels the audiometer can reach and demonstrate that when they hear the sound they need to put a block in the box. I can get the vast majority done that way. When I first started, I had them raise hands-and that was pretty much a disaster, as they would generally not put their hands back down again. Our OAE was purchased by our Deaf Ed department-and as such, they really don't want us using it for general screening.

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