The Hospital La Inmaculada del Area de Gestion Sanitaria Norte de Almería has completed the hearing loss detection programme with the Evoked Auditory Potential (AEP) test, which measures the response of the patient’s brain by means of electrical stimulation. This is the most accurate test of all and is used to detect whether the ear is functioning in optimum conditions. The study of these evoked potentials is of great clinical interest as it allows the diagnosis, by comparison with the responses considered normal, of various pathologies or dysfunctions of the auditory apparatus and nerve pathways.
Auditory Evoked Potentials are not exactly a hearing test, but they can be used to identify and quantify hearing loss in children and adults who are unable or unwilling to participate in a subjective test such as audiometry. Over the past year 2022, a total of 126 patients have been referred to the Hospital Universitario Torrecárdenas, to date the reference centre for this test. The regional hospital of Huércal-Overa thus incorporates this new technique in which the professionals of the health centre are already being trained.
Hypoacusis is a decrease in auditory perception and can constitute a major health problem if it appears during childhood, with serious consequences for the development of a normal life, as hearing is essential for the development of skills such as language and communication. This is why it is very important to detect hearing loss in the first months of a child’s life, when hearing impairment can be alleviated using therapies which, in some cases, involve the implantation of hearing aids or the fitting of implants in the child’s ear to minimise hearing impairment.
Up to 50 percent of deafness in children is not related to risk indicators. The rest may be hereditary, caused by infections or illness in the mother during pregnancy, or even acquired during the child’s early childhood.