The effect of neonatal ICU noise on newborn hearing and intell igence

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-3806.2013.10.07

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effects of neonatal ICU noise on newborn hearing and intelligence . Methods Fifty-five newborns in department of neonatology treated by the ventilator were randomly divided into ob -servation group(n=28) and the control group(n=27).The observation group used earmuffs, while the control group did not use earmuffs .The brainstem auditory evoked potential , cranial utrasound , skull CT and regular medical ex-aminations including mental development tests were carried out in the children of two groups after the treatment of ventilator .Results The total hearing loss and the proportion of mild hearing loss was significantly lower in the obser -vation group than the control group ( P<0.05 ) .There was no significant difference between the two groups in moder-ate and severe hearing loss ( P>0.05 ) .At 6 months after birth , the differences in total hearing loss , mild hearing loss moderate and severe hearing loss were not statistically significant between the two groups ( P>0.05 ) .The NB-NA, DQ value of 6 and 12 months were higher in the observation group ( P<0.05 or P<0.01 ) while the prognosis rate lower than the control group .Conclusion Neonatal ICU noise can cause the mild hearing damage and have in-fluence on intelligence in newborns , while wearing earmuffs can reduce the adverse impact on newborn hearing and intelligence .