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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
The detection of childhood deafness in Ayrshire
1Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.
Insights
Early detection of childhood hearing impairment in Ayrshire shows room for improvement. Delays identified in the screening and hearing aid fitting process highlight the need for service enhancements.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Audiology
- Public Health Screening
Background:
- Bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment affects children's development.
- Early identification and intervention are crucial for managing hearing loss.
Purpose of the Study:
- Determine age at referral and hearing aid fitting for children with hearing loss.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of health visitor distraction test screening.
- Identify service improvement areas for pediatric audiology.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of the Educational Audiology database.
- Analysis of data for children born 1991-1996 in Ayrshire.
- Assessment of distraction test screening performance.
Main Results:
- 32 children with hearing impairment identified.
- Distraction test sensitivity was 45%, specificity 93%.
- 48% diagnosed by age one, 17% by six months; delays noted throughout the process.
Conclusions:
- Significant scope exists to improve hearing impairment detection in Ayrshire.
- Service delivery requires optimization for timely diagnosis and intervention.
Objective:
To determine the age at referral and at first fitting of hearing aids for children with a bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment of 30dB or more born in Ayrshire 1991-1996. To assess the value of routine health visitor distraction test screening for hearing impairment. To identify areas for improvement in the service.
Design:
A review of data contained within the prospectively collected. Educational Audiology database.
Setting:
Area covered by the Ayrshire and Arran Health Board.
Subjects:
Children born in the years 1991-1996 who were screened for hearing impairment by the distraction test, and those born in the same period who have been identified as having a bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment of 30dB or worse.
Results:
Thirty-two hearing impaired children were identified from the database. The distraction test screen had a sensitivity of 45%, a specificity of 93%, a positive predictive value of 0.6% and a negative predictive value of 99.9%. Forty eight percent of hearing impaired children were diagnosed before the age of one year, and 17% before six months. Sources of delay were identified at all stages of the process from initial identification to fitting of hearing aids.
Conclusion:
There remain scope for improvement in the detection of hearing impairment in Ayrshire.
