Gender differences in transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) of newborns

Otoacoustic emissions are sounds generated in a normal hearing cochlea that can be recorded by placing a probe in the external ear canal. Transient evoked OAEs (TEOAEs), which are elicited by a click or tone pip, have been measured in normal hearing newborns soon after birth and provide an effective hearing screening tool for use in the newborn nursery. Response characteristics of the newborn TEOAE response, however, have not been thoroughly explored and delineated. This retrospective study explored gender differences in neonatal TEOAEs by comparing the reproducibility and amplitude of TEOAEs in female and male subjects.