Prolonged Auditory Brainstem Response in Universal Hearing Screening of Newborns with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Oren Miron, Rafael E Delgado, Christine F Delgado and 6 others
PMID 33140578WHAT IT FOUND
Newborn hearing screening brainstem responses were longer in infants later diagnosed with autism in both ears.
The screening did not show enough difference to identify individual newborns.
Key findings
01Newborns later diagnosed with ASD had prolonged ABR phase in both ears: right ear mean 152.53 degrees versus 143.54 degrees, and left ear mean 132.30 degrees versus 125.5 degrees.
02Wave V-negative latency was prolonged in the right ear: ASD mean 10.77 milliseconds versus non-ASD mean 10.51 milliseconds.
03Wave V-negative latency was not prolonged in the left ear: ASD mean 10.18 milliseconds versus non-ASD mean 10.06 milliseconds.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and used existing newborn hearing screening records and state education registry data, not direct clinical assessment. The non-ASD group consisted of ABR records not matched to the ASD registry. ASD status came from eligibility determination for children ages 3 to 5 years. The screening used 35 dB nHL clicks, a lower intensity than many ASD studies, producing a weaker signal and preventing precise labeling of wave V-positive. Wave V-negative and phase have not been studied as widely as wave V, and the authors said replication is needed before clinical usefulness. The authors said the signal was insufficient to support a robust clinically useful classification model. There was a large sex imbalance between groups (76.95% male in the ASD group and 51.11% male in the non-ASD group), although the analysis adjusted for sex. Wave V-negative latency analysis included only 93% of the total sample (286 ASD and 129,360 non-ASD newborns with waveform data).
Declared interests
Authors declared no conflict of interest. Funding was NIH (SBIR). The ABR data came from universal newborn hearing screening tests performed by Pediatrix Medical Group, a MEDNAX company.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that newborn hearing screening can identify autism risk in an individual baby. The authors said the signal was not enough for a clinically useful model to identify newborns, and the findings need replication.