Related Experiment Videos
Utilization of a questionnaire to provide follow-up services in an infant hearing screening program
1Hearing, Speech, and Vision Services, Arkansas Department of Health, Little Rock 72205.
Insights
Follow-up questionnaires can help monitor infants after neonatal hearing screening. However, response rates vary significantly based on hospital demographics, impacting their effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Audiology
- Public health
Background:
- Effective neonatal hearing screening programs require robust monitoring and follow-up.
- Administering these follow-up services presents significant logistical challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of mailed or telephoned questionnaires for obtaining follow-up information from parents of infants who passed neonatal hearing screening.
- To identify factors influencing the success of questionnaire-based follow-up.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire, adapted from Jacobson and Jacobson (1990), was administered via mail or telephone.
- 119 parents of infants who passed initial hearing screening in four hospitals were contacted.
- Response rates were analyzed in relation to hospital demographics.
Main Results:
- Overall response rate to the questionnaire was 44%.
- Response rates varied substantially (up to 36%) between hospitals.
- Hospital demographics were found to significantly influence questionnaire response rates.
Conclusions:
- Follow-up questionnaires can be a viable alternative to on-site services for infants passing initial screening, provided their limitations are acknowledged.
- The success of questionnaire-based follow-up is highly dependent on hospital-specific demographic factors.
- Further research may be needed to optimize strategies for improving response rates in diverse hospital settings.
Abstract:
An important goal of any neonatal hearing screening program is to provide adequate monitoring and follow-up services for all newborns tested. This is often the most difficult component of the program to administer. An attempt was made to obtain follow-up information through the use of a questionnaire modeled after Jacobson and Jacobson (1990). This questionnaire was administered by mail or telephone to 119 parents whose infants had passed a hearing screening as neonates in four hospitals. Forty-four percent of all parents contacted by either means responded to the questionnaire; however, response rates varied by as much as 36 percent, depending on the hospital in which a child was born. Our results suggest that the successful use of follow-up questionnaires depends greatly upon hospital demographics. When limitations are considered, however, they may provide an alternative to on-site follow-up services for infants who pass initial screening.