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From Neonatal Hearing Screening to Intervention: Results of the Dutch Program for Neonatal Hearing Screening in Well
Noëlle Uilenburg1, Catharina Van der Ploeg2, Rosanne van der Zee1
1Dutch Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child, Lutmastraat 167, 1073 GX Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Insights
Neonatal hearing screening (NHS) in the Netherlands is a high-quality, stable program identifying infants with hearing loss early. While screening is timely, post-screening diagnostics and intervention require further improvement.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
- Audiology
Background:
- Youth Health Care (YHC) services in the Netherlands have conducted neonatal hearing screening (NHS) since 2006.
- Early detection of permanent hearing loss in newborns is crucial for timely intervention and better developmental outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the structure and performance of the NHS program.
- To evaluate the quality and timeliness of the NHS and subsequent intervention.
Main Methods:
- Annual audits of the NHS program were conducted.
- Data from monitoring reports and the Dutch Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child were analyzed.
Main Results:
- The NHS program in the Netherlands is consistently of high quality, demonstrating a stable performance.
- High participation rates and a low refer percentage characterize the program.
- Timeliness of screening has improved, though post-screening diagnostics and intervention timeliness require further enhancement.
Conclusions:
- The Dutch NHS program is effective and stable, achieving high-quality screening.
- Continued efforts are needed to optimize the timeliness of diagnostic follow-up and intervention initiation for infants identified with hearing loss.
Abstract:
In the Netherlands, Youth Health Care services (YHC) have been carrying out neonatal hearing screening (NHS) in newborns since 2006. The aim of the NHS is to identify children with permanent hearing loss, so that intervention can be started before the age of 4 months. Early detection of hearing loss is important, as children who start intervention early have been shown to develop better. This article describes the structure and performance of the NHS carried out by the YHC, the quality of the program, and the timeliness of the start of intervention. Since its implementation, the NHS has been audited annually in order to monitor the program's quality. Monitoring reports and data from the Dutch Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child were used in this study. For many years, results have shown the NHS to be a stable screening program of high quality. The participation rate is high, refer percentage low, and the timeliness of the program is continually improving. Although the timeliness of post screening diagnostics and intervention need most improvement as they do not always meet the target times, this has improved over recent years.
