Population-based cross-sectional study to assess newborn hearing screening program in central Germany.

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Public Health
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Early diagnosis of congenital hearing loss is essential to mitigate speech development issues.
• Newborn hearing screening (NHS) and follow-up are critical for timely intervention in hearing-impaired children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the outcomes of a population-based newborn hearing screening program over its first six years.
• To assess the effectiveness of the screening and tracking process in identifying hearing loss in newborns.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional cohort study included 102,301 infants born between 2010-2015.
• Screening utilized Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE) and Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (AABR) based on audiological risk factors.
• Data from hearing-impaired children up to age three were analyzed to assess screening quality and false-negative rates.

Main Results:

• 98.8% of infants were screened, with a bilateral neonatal hearing loss prevalence of 2.32 per 1000 newborns.
• Median age at screening was 2 days, diagnosis at 3 months, and intervention at 4 months.
• The NHS program demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.85 and specificity of 0.84.

Conclusions:

• The newborn hearing screening program effectively meets its primary objective of timely identification of hearing-impaired newborns.
• The program's benchmarks and outcomes indicate successful implementation in Saxony-Anhalt.