The impact of newborn hearing screening on communication development

2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Fitzpatrick ◽  
Andrée Durieux-Smith ◽  
Alice Eriks-Brophy ◽  
Janet Olds ◽  
Robin Gaines

Objective: Universal newborn hearing screening has become standard practice in many countries. The primary goal of this study was to assess the impact of early identification of permanent childhood hearing loss on oral communication development. Setting: Participants were recruited from three clinical programmes in two cities in the province of Ontario, Canada. The study sample was born during two consecutive periods of newborn hearing screening. The first period, prior to 2002, was targeted on high-risk infants only, and the second, from 2002, included both high- and standard-risk infants (universal newborn hearing screening – UNHS). All children were enrolled in rehabilitation programmes focused on oral language development. Methods: In this multicentre observational study, 65 children under the age of five years with onset of hearing loss before six months of age, 26 identified through systematic newborn screening (14 through targeted screening and 12 through UNHS) and 39 without screening, were assessed with an extensive battery of child- and parent-administered speech and language measures. The degree of hearing loss ranged from mild to profound with 22 children in the mild, moderate and moderately severe categories and 43 in the severe and profound categories. Data are reported for the three-year study period. Results: The screened group of children was identified at a median age of 6.6 (interquartile range, 3.0–8.2) months and children referred from sources other than newborn screening were diagnosed at a median age of 16.5 (interquartile range, 10.2–29.0) months. Assessment of oral communication development showed no significant difference between the screened and unscreened groups. The communication outcomes for children identified before 12 months of age did not differ from those of later identified children. Conclusions: Systematic screening of newborn hearing results in earlier identification and intervention for children with permanent hearing loss. Superior language outcome following newborn screening was not demonstrable in the setting of this study.

Author(s):  
Philippa Horn ◽  
Carlie Driscoll ◽  
Jane Fitzgibbons ◽  
Rachael Beswick

Purpose The current Joint Committee on Infant Hearing guidelines recommend that infants with syndromes or craniofacial abnormalities (CFAs) who pass the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) undergo audiological assessment by 9 months of age. However, emerging research suggests that children with these risk factors are at increased risk of early hearing loss despite passing UNHS. To establish whether earlier diagnostic audiological assessment is warranted for all infants with a syndrome or CFA, regardless of screening outcome, this study compared audiological outcomes of those who passed UNHS and those who referred. Method A retrospective analysis was performed on infants with a syndrome or CFA born between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2017 who participated in Queensland, Australia's state-wide UNHS program. Results Permanent childhood hearing loss (PCHL) yield was higher among infants who referred on newborn hearing screening (51.20%) than in those who passed. Nonetheless, 27.47% of infants who passed were subsequently diagnosed with hearing loss (4.45% PCHL, 23.02% transient conductive), but PCHL was generally milder in this cohort. After microtia/atresia, the most common PCHL etiologies were Trisomy 21, other syndromes, and cleft palate. Of the other syndromes, Pierre Robin sequence featured prominently among infants who passed the hearing screen and were subsequently diagnosed with PCHL, whereas there was a broader mix of other syndromes that caused PCHL in infants who referred on screening. Conclusion Children identified with a syndrome or CFA benefit from early diagnostic audiological assessment, regardless of their newborn hearing screening outcome.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Doncarli ◽  
H Tillaut ◽  
V Goulet

Abstract Background The French newborn hearing screening programme set up in 2014 aims to identify affected children as early as possible to allow appropriate care. Our goal was to evaluate the implementation of this programme at the national level. Methods The programme consist in a screening using a test (T1) and a retest (T2) in the maternity hospital in all newborns. In some region, a delayed test (T3) is performed afterwards in children for whom it was not possible to confirm normal hearing. Children suspected of deafness subsequently enter the diagnosis phase. We defined evaluation indicators after stakeholders consultation. We developed a web application to collect aggregated data on live births. We estimated the rate of coverage, refusal, children suspected of hearing loss at the end of the screening phase and the prevalence of bilateral deafness. Results In 2015, one year after the initiation of the programme, the coverage rate was already very high (88%) and even more so in 2016 (96%). Parental acceptance was very good (refusal: 0.1%). By the end of 2016, 19 out 27 regions had added a T3. The rate of suspicion of bilateral hearing loss was decreased by using a T3 (1.4% vs 0.9%). Bilateral deafness rate, estimated after a 2-years follow up, was 1.3‰ although it was estimated only on 51.5% of suspected children for whom diagnosis data had been transmitted. Conclusions The objective of a 90% coverage set by the French ministry of health has been met after 2 years of operation of the program. T3 appears useful in relieving diagnostic structures from false positives. Our estimated prevalence of bilateral deafness could be more accurate if data collection was improved but is consistent with prevalence reported in North America. Key messages The universal newborn hearing screening program has been successfully set up in France in terms of coverage. Future work should focus on improving the collection of follow up data to better characterise diagnosed children.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alys Young ◽  
Helen Tattersall ◽  
Wendy McCracken ◽  
John Bamford

2014 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Pimperton ◽  
Hazel Blythe ◽  
Jana Kreppner ◽  
Merle Mahon ◽  
Janet L Peacock ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo determine whether the benefits of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) seen at age 8 years persist through the second decade.DesignProspective cohort study of a population sample of children with permanent childhood hearing impairment (PCHI) followed up for 17 years since birth in periods with (or without) UNHS.SettingBirth cohort of 100 000 in southern England.Participants114 teenagers aged 13–19 years, 76 with PCHI and 38 with normal hearing. All had previously their reading assessed aged 6–10 years.InterventionsBirth in periods with and without UNHS; confirmation of PCHI before and after age 9 months.Main outcome measureReading comprehension ability. Regression modelling took account of severity of hearing loss, non-verbal ability, maternal education and main language.ResultsConfirmation of PCHI by age 9 months was associated with significantly higher mean z-scores for reading comprehension (adjusted mean difference 1.17, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.97) although birth during periods with UNHS was not (adjusted mean difference 0.15, 95% CI −0.75 to 1.06). The gap between the reading comprehension z-scores of teenagers with early compared with late confirmed PCHI had widened at an adjusted mean rate of 0.06 per year (95% CI −0.02 to 0.13) during the 9.2-year mean interval since the previous assessment.ConclusionsThe benefit to reading comprehension of confirmation of PCHI by age 9 months increases during the teenage years. This strengthens the case for UNHS programmes that lead to early confirmation of permanent hearing loss.Trial registration numberISRCTN03307358.


2018 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 181-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Wroblewska-Seniuk ◽  
Piotr Dabrowski ◽  
Grazyna Greczka ◽  
Katarzyna Szabatowska ◽  
Agata Glowacka ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 123 (9) ◽  
pp. 982-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J Sim ◽  
S Matthew ◽  
R J Foley ◽  
P J Robinson

AbstractObjective:The Avon Area Health Authority was a first-phase site for introduction of universal newborn screening in the UK. The aims of this study were: to review the programme's results to date; to assess the impact screening would have on other services (e.g. the cochlear implant programme); and to assess the longer term outcome for children identified by the screening programme.Patients:All children identified by the Avon universal newborn hearing screening programme between April 2002 and July 2006.Results:Fifty-four children with a bilateral hearing impairment of worse than 40 dBHL were identified from a screened population of approximately 44 000. Nine of these children were put forward for cochlear implantation, and seven had been implanted at the time of writing. Thirteen of these children were identified with possible auditory neuropathy or dys-synchrony. All the newborn hearing screening programme criteria assessed were met.Conclusions:The screening programme was effective. Some areas may need review in order to optimise patient care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-99

Objective: 1) To share the experience in establishing the first province to set up the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) in Thailand. 2) To report the results of four consecutive years of UNHS in Trang. Materials and Methods: All newborns in Trang province, between October 2013 and September 2017, who received UNHS, were included in this study. The present study was a descriptive study. Results: There were three main obstacles to be solved to establish the program. There was no supported budget from the central government to run the UNHS. There was a lack of audiologists or trained personnel to run the UNHS. Finally, there was no province in Thailand that has done the project before. A budget for the Trang’s UNHS project was allocated, which was 3,100,000 baht from the Trang provincial administrative organization, to purchase hearing screening machines for every community hospital. The personnel to run the UNHS, which were nurses, were trained in every hospital. The protocols, referral, and follow-up programs were newly designed to establish the hospital network for the program. There were 28,254 newborns in Trang and 27,983 (99.04%) were screened. The high-risk newborns were 1,415 (5.1%). The low-risk group was 26,568 (94.9%). The referral rate of transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) was 5.9%. In the low-risk past screening group, there was one newborn (0.005%) that presented later with delayed speech and profound hearing loss after 1½ years and the MRI showed bilateral IAC stenosis. There were two newborns with severe hearing loss, one was Mondini dysplasia, and the other was normal on imaging, in 169 unpassed low-risk newborns. In the high-risk group, 73 (5.2%) were unpassed. After diagnostic tests, 71 (97.2%) were normal, one had severe hearing loss with normal imaging, and the other had bilateral microtia. The incidence of bilateral severe SNHL in high-risk newborn was (1/1,415) 0.71:1,000 births. The incidence of bilateral severe SNHL in low-risk newborn was (3/26,568) 0.11:1,000 births. After two years of follow-up, there was no delayed speech due to hearing loss in all the present study newborns. Conclusion: The rate of congenital hearing loss is not as high as in the literature, but the UNHS is still important to the newborns and their parents. Keywords: UNHS in Trang, Province-based UNHS, Incidence of hearing loss in newborn


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