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[Results of a deafness screening program for infants: a pilot project]
1Service de santé publique, Centre hospitalier de Beauceville, QC.
Insights
A Quebec infant hearing loss screening program identified 8.4% of newborns with risk factors. Early audiological exams diagnosed one case of deafness, highlighting the importance of infant hearing screening.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Audiology
- Public Health
Context:
- Implemented in a Quebec public health district, this study evaluated an infant hearing loss screening program.
- The program followed recommendations from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
- Screening occurred between April 1990 and March 1992, covering 3,944 births.
Purpose:
- To describe the implementation and outcomes of a two-stage infant hearing loss screening program.
- To identify the prevalence of hearing impairment risk factors in newborns.
- To assess the effectiveness of audiological examinations at six months for at-risk infants.
Summary:
- The first stage identified infants with risk factors for deafness (8.4% of 3,944 births).
- Common risk factors included family history, hyperbilirubinemia, and neonatal unit admission.
- The second stage involved audiological examinations for 54.2% of at-risk infants, diagnosing one case of deafness.
Impact:
- Demonstrates the feasibility of a systematic approach to identifying infants at risk for hearing loss.
- Provides data on the prevalence of specific risk factors in the studied population.
- Confirms the necessity of follow-up audiological assessments for early detection and intervention of infant hearing impairment.
Abstract:
This article describes a screening program for hearing loss among infants. The program, designed according to ASHA recommendations, was implemented in a public health district of the province of Quebec. In the first stage of the program all infants born between April 1, 1990 and March 30, 1992 were assessed for risk factors for deafness. In the second stage, those infants considered at risk were given an audiological examination at six months of age. There were 3,944 births during the study period and of these, 8.4% of the infants had at least one risk factor for hearing impairment, the most frequent of which was a family history of hearing impairment at an early age, followed by: hyperbilirubinemia, admission to a high risk neonatal unit, consumption of ototoxic medications, anatomical malformations, perinatal infections and insufficient birthweight. Of the infants at risk, 54.2% were given the audiological examination at six months and one case of deafness was diagnosed.