The Otoacoustic Emissions in the Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening: A Scoping Review Update on the African Data...

Background: The reported data on African universal neonatal hearing screening (UNHS) practices tend to be quite scarce, despite the developments in hearing screening the last two decades. The objective of this systematic review was (a) to identify the most recent (in a 20-year span) literature information about NHS/UNHS programs in Africa and (b) to provide data on the procedures used to assess the population, the intervention policies, and on the estimated prevalence of congenital hearing loss with an emphasis on bilateral hearing loss cases. Methods: Queries were conducted via the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases for the time window of 2004-2024. The mesh terms used were "OAE", "universal neonatal hearing screening", "congenital hearing loss", "well babies", and "Africa". Only research articles and review papers were considered as good candidates. The standard English language filter was not used, to identify information from non-English-speaking scientific communities and groups. Results: Data from 15 papers were considered, reflecting the neonatal hearing practices of nine African states. No country-wide NHS programs were reported. The various screening realities are implemented within big urban centers, leaving the residents of rural areas unassisted. For the latter, proposals based on tele-medicine protocols have been suggested. The data on HL prevalence are also incomplete, but the available data refer to rates from 3 to 360 subjects per 1000. These data cannot be taken at face value but within the small sample size context in which they were acquired. Regarding the causes of HL, very few data have been reported; consanguinity is the most attributed factor, at least in the Sub-Saharan African states. For the majority of the programs, no data were reported on hearing loss prevalence/incidence or on any strategies to restore hearing. Conclusions: The information on the African neonatal hearing screening are quite scarce, and it is an urgent need to convince audiologists from the African localized programs to publish their hearing screening data.