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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Neonatal at risk screening and the identification of deafness
P M Watkin1, M Baldwin, G McEnery
1Waltham Forest Health Authority, London.
Insights
Neonatal hearing screening identified 3% of infants at risk for hearing impairment, enabling early intervention with hearing aids by 6 months. However, this program only identified 43% of all cases, highlighting the need for additional infant screening methods.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Audiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Hearing impairment affects approximately 3% of live births, necessitating early detection.
- Early identification and intervention are crucial for managing hearing loss in neonates.
- Current neonatal screening programs may not capture all cases of childhood hearing impairment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness and utility of a neonatal hearing impairment screening program.
- To determine the age of hearing aid fitting for infants identified through neonatal screening.
- To assess the yield of neonatal screening in identifying all cases of hearing loss within a cohort.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 10,686 live births was screened for hearing impairment risk.
- Auditory brainstem responses were used for neonatal screening.
- The study analyzed the yield and cost-effectiveness of the screening program.
Main Results:
- 322 neonates (3%) were identified at risk for moderate or worse hearing impairment.
- The neonatal screening program demonstrated effectiveness in yield and cost.
- Children identified by the screen received hearing aids at a mean age of 6 months.
- The neonatal program identified only 43% of all deaf children in the cohort.
Conclusions:
- Neonatal hearing screening is practicable and useful in a district general hospital setting.
- Early intervention is feasible, with hearing aids fitted by 6 months for identified infants.
- A sensitive infant distraction test screening program is still needed to identify additional cases of hearing impairment.
Abstract:
From a cohort of 10,686 live births, 322 (3%) were identified as being at risk of a hearing impairment defined as moderate, or worse. These neonates were screened by measurement of auditory brainstem responses. The neonatal at risk screening programme was effective in terms of both yield and cost. The mean age at which hearing aids were fitted was 6 months in the children identified by the neonatal screen. Such a programme is both practicable and useful in a district general hospital. The yield from the neonatal programme was, however, only 43% of the total number of deaf children eventually identified from the cohort. The need to identify more deaf children by a sensitive infant distraction test screening programme remains.
