Studying the Effect of Maternal Anemia and Neonatal Hematological Indices on Auditory Brainstem Responses of Newborn Babies

Abstract

Purpose: Animal studies have shown the effect of maternal anemia (MA) and neonatal iron deficiency (ID) on the auditory system of young ones. However, the evidence supporting the same in human infants is inconclusive. Hence, the present study aims to investigate the effect of MA and neonatal iron status on the auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) of newborn babies. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 babies (gestational age ≥34 weeks) were divided into “Normal” group-57 babies without MA, “Mild” group-22 mild MA babies, and “Moderate” group-21 moderate MA babies. The ABR was recorded using 80 dBnHL click stimuli at 10 and 90 Hz repetition rates. Results: The results based on MA showed a significantly better presence of ABR peaks for the normal group than mild and moderate groups at a higher rate and no significant difference for latency and amplitude measures across the groups. The results based on neonatal hematological indices showed that the ABR measures were better in babies with probable ID which could be attributed to neural hyperactivity and an increase in axonal diameter leading to faster nerve conduction velocity. Conclusion: The auditory system maturation in newborn babies is influenced by maternal as well as neonatal iron status.