OBJECTIVE: To verify the incidence of the risk pointers auditory deficiency and to correlate the presence of these pointers with the results of the neonatal auditory selection. METHODOLOGY: They had been part of these study neonates born in a university hospital that had carried through examination of transient otoacoustic emissions as part of the program of universal neonatal auditory selection. RESULTS: 3122 born neonates had been evaluated of January of 2010 to November of 2011. The pointer of risk for auditory deficiency was present in 14% (n=444) of the neonates and of these we observe the incidence of 43% of permanence drawn out in UTI, 38% had had low Apgar, 26% had needed mechanic ventilations, 24% had been born with lesser weight of 1500g, 18% had made ototoxic medications use, 6% had had hemorrhage to peri-intraventricular, 5% had had syphilis, toxoplasmosis, congenital malformations and children of using mothers of drugs, 4% had had meningitis and familiar history of auditory disabilities, 3% had had hyperbilirrubinemia and genetic syndrome, 2% of union with consanguinity and 0.2% had had cytomegalovirus and herpes. The risk pointers that had caused more alterations in the neonatal selection had been cytomegalovirus (100%), congenital hyperbilirrubinemia (75%) and bad formations (60%) whereas toxoplasmosis (14%), syphilis (12.5%) and use of mechanic ventilations (12%) had been the pointers that had less caused alterations. CONCLUSION: Although some pointers of risk auditory deficiency to present low incidence, when they occurs the effect on the hearing are bigger. Between most important them they had been cytomegalovirus, the congenital hyperbilirrubinemia and bad formations, with more alterations in the otoacoustic emissions.