Distortion product otoacoustic emissions in newborn babies with and without late-term maternal iron deficiency anaemia

BACKGROUND: Studies on animals have demonstrated that maternal iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) could result in decreased cochlear sensory hair cells and reduced amplitudes of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) of young guinea pigs. Thus, it is essential to study the functioning of cochlear hair cells using DPOAEs in human newborn babies with maternal IDA. The current study explores maternal IDA's effect on DPOAEs in newborn babies. METHOD: A total of 110 newborn babies with gestational age ≥34 weeks were considered and a ‘between-subjects’ design was used. The participants were divided into 3 groups- “Normal” (61 babies without maternal IDA), “Mild” (28 babies with mild maternal IDA) and “Moderate” (21 babies with moderate maternal IDA). The cord blood was collected and the DPOAEs were recorded for each baby for a range of frequencies (1 k – 8 kHz) and a range of intensities (70–40 dB SPL in 10 dB steps). RESULTS: The analysis of both DP-gram and DP input-output (I/O) function showed that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) across the normal, mild, and moderate groups in the overall presence of DPOAEs as well as the amplitude across frequencies or intensities (70–40 dB SPL). Also, the overall correlation of RBC indices with DPOAE amplitude across frequencies as well as the slope of the I/O function showed no relationship. CONCLUSION: The current study concludes that there is no effect of late-term maternal IDA on the DPOAEs of newborn babies.