Parent's Satisfaction of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program in Iran

Measuring parent satisfaction is an important factor in pediatric health care service programs because parents play a major role in their child's life. The parental decisions are a basis for the success or failure of the child's treatment in many cases. The purpose of this study was to determine levels of parents' satisfaction following the implementation of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) program in Iran. In this study, the Persain version of the parent satisfaction questionnaire with neonatal hearing screening program (PSQ-NHSP) was used to measure parents' satisfaction on information of newborn hearing screening program, personnel in charge of the hearing testing, hearing screening activities, and overall satisfaction. Newborns were screened using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and automatic auditory brainstem response tests within the first 48 h of life for each ear. Of the 312 questionnaires distributed, 217 parents (67%) responded. The mean scores of the "overall satisfaction" items ranged from 4.07 to 4.29, demonstrating high levels of parent satisfaction with this aspect of the program. More than 86% of parents were overally satisfied with the hearing screening program. In open-ended items, 84% of parents comments showed their satisfaction. The findings of the present study revealed that parents were generally satisfied with the UNHS program. The PSQ-NHSP questionnaire is easily employed and effective method for assessing parental satisfaction with newborn hearing screening programs.