PURPOSE: to describe the population of high risk newborns referred for a hearing screening program at a selective hearing health service, as well, to characterize and compare the group of infants who attended the screening (group I) and the other of infants who did not attend the screening (group II). METHOD: we performed a prospective study in a child hearing center. The sample consisted of 55 infants under high risk at a maternity hospital in Sao Paulo. The methodology included the examination of medical records and interviews with the mothers. We studied the age at the hospital, hearing screening, diagnosis, time between hospital discharge and screening, the time between hospital discharge and diagnosis and, finally, the time between screening and diagnosis. We compared the socioeconomic and cultural groups and the risk factors. RESULTS: 55 infants were referred to the attendance and hearing screening was 76% (42). The mean age of hospital discharge was 38 days, the hearing screening was 42 days and the diagnosis was 95.1 days. The mean time between the discharge and screening was 13 days, between the discharge and the diagnosis was 40.8 days. The group attending the screening had lower weight, longer ICU stay, and greater number of risk factors, higher family income per person and more prenatal care than those who did not attend it. CONCLUSIONS: the children who showed greater adherence to the implementation of selective newborn hearing screening were those whose mothers attended a greater number of pre-natal cares, those that had increased incidence of risk factors, longer hospitalization and when the information in the maternity ward were more effective.