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Early identification of hearing loss: screening and surveillance methods
1West Berkshire Health Authority, Department of Community Child Health, Reading.
Insights
Health visitor screening for infant hearing loss shows low effectiveness. Earlier diagnosis is now achieved through neonatal screening and parental observation, leading to a trial discontinuation of traditional methods.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Audiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Traditional 8-month infant hearing loss screening in West Berkshire demonstrates suboptimal sensitivity and positive predictive value.
- Despite improvement efforts, the screening's effectiveness remains a concern for early detection of hearing impairment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of current infant hearing loss screening protocols.
- To explore alternative methods for earlier diagnosis of hearing loss in babies.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of service monitoring data for health visitor screening outcomes.
- Review of recent cases of severely hearing-impaired children to identify diagnostic trends.
- Assessment of the impact of neonatal 'at risk' screening and parental observation surveillance.
Main Results:
- Health visitor screening exhibits low sensitivity and low positive predictive value for detecting hearing loss.
- Earlier diagnosis of severe hearing impairment has been observed, attributed to supplementary screening and surveillance methods.
- Introduction of neonatal screening and parental observation contributes to improved detection rates.
Conclusions:
- Traditional 8-month infant hearing screening is being discontinued in West Berkshire for a trial period.
- Focus will shift to neonatal 'at risk' screening and parental observation for earlier hearing loss detection.
- Service changes, including enhanced surveillance, show promise for earlier diagnosis of hearing impairment in infants.
Abstract:
Service monitoring data on the outcomes of health visitors' screening for hearing loss at 8 months in West Berkshire indicate low sensitivity and low positive predictive value, despite efforts to improve the conduct of the screen. Nevertheless, data on a recent series of severely hearing impaired children indicate significantly earlier diagnosis than previously, due in part in the introduction of other service changes including neonatal 'at risk' screening and surveillance using parental observation. For a trial period the traditional screening method for the detection of hearing loss in babies will be discontinued and effort concentrated on these alternative procedures.