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Post‐natal hearing loss in universal neonatal hearing screening communities: Current limitations and future directions
Author(s) -
Hutt Nicole,
Rhodes Christine
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2007.01275.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hearing loss , intervention (counseling) , audiology , hearing impaired , pediatrics , nursing
Universal hearing screening has dramatically improved outcomes for babies born with detectable hearing abnormalities; yet there are some infants who develop significant hearing problems after passing a neonatal screen. There is much conjecture as to the number and the characteristics of infants with post‐natal hearing losses; yet evidence suggests that many children may be affected, and that a large proportion have no discoverable cause. Currently, screening programmes use lists of risk factors to enrol babies into surveillance programmes. This practice is problematic because audiological follow‐ups are expensive and under‐utilised, and parental disclosure is often inaccurate. The large databases from universal neonatal programmes could inform the development of effective, evidence‐based practice and policy for the detection and intervention of children who develop post‐natal hearing losses.