8,888 Newborns Over One Year: Evaluation of a Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening Program

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening is essential for early detection of hearing loss, enabling prompt interventions and improving child development.

To analyze the outcomes of a universal neonatal hearing screening program.

Retrospective descriptive study analyzing the results of neonatal hearing screening. The inclusion criterion was birth at or transfer to the hospital between January and December 2023. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee, under number 5.227.720/2022.

8,828 (99.32% of total sample) underwent screening, with 7,846 having no risk factors for hearing loss and 982 identified with risk factors for hearing loss. Among the 60 newborns who were not screened, 7 (0.08%) were transferred to other hospitals before undergoing the universal neonatal hearing screening, 50 (0.56%) passed away, and 3 (0.03%) were lost to follow-up and did not undergo the screening. For the TEOAE and aABR tests, the variables sex, type of healthcare service, and birth weight had a significant effect on increasing the likelihood of test failures.

The outcomes of one year of the UNHS service were assessed, revealing a coverage rate of 99.96%. The service meets the quality indicators recommended by the guidelines, except for the percentage of referrals for diagnosis. Although challenges remain and new goals are yet to be achieved, the importance of conducting further research is recognized to monitor the auditory development of infants throughout life, especially those with risk factors for hearing loss.