Maternal knowledge and attitudes to universal newborn hearing screening: Reviewing an established program

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Audiology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) is vital for early diagnosis of infant hearing loss.
• Hong Kong's public hospitals have offered UNHS for over a decade.
• Parental knowledge, attitudes, and satisfaction with UNHS have not been previously studied in Hong Kong.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess Hong Kong mothers' knowledge of UNHS and infant hearing.
• To investigate maternal attitudes toward and satisfaction with the UNHS program.
• To identify areas for improvement in the established UNHS program based on user perspectives.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire was administered to 102 mothers with newborns who underwent UNHS.
• The survey assessed parental knowledge of hearing development, UNHS procedures, and results interpretation.
• Maternal attitudes towards screening, informed consent, emotional impact, and follow-up compliance were evaluated.

Main Results:

• Mothers demonstrated low knowledge of infant hearing development and underestimated hearing loss risks.
• Satisfaction with information provided about the screening and results was moderate to low.
• Over 95% of mothers supported UNHS, valuing early diagnosis and showing high willingness for follow-up assessments.

Conclusions:

• Increased provision of information on infant hearing development and UNHS results is needed.
• Enhanced communication regarding screening procedures and implications is recommended.
• Regular surveys of service users can support UNHS program quality assurance.