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 Diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss at birth is critical to
lowering the risk of impaired speech, language and literacy later in
life, write the researchers in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck
Surgery.
"When babies are born, parents are accustomed to counting fingers
and toes and asking about vaccinations, but they also need to be
educated to ask if their baby passed the hearing test," said Dr.
Melissa Pynnonen, the study's lead author from the University of
Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.
Hearing loss is the most common health condition at birth in the
U.S. Each year about three of every 1,000 children are born with
moderate to profound hearing loss, according to the American Academy
of Pediatrics (AAP).
The most intense period of speech and language development occurs
during the first three years of life, according to the U.S. National
Institutes of Health. Also, the brain builds the needed pathways to
understand sound during that time.
The vast majority of U.S. states now mandate newborn hearing
screenings, according to the AAP.
For the new study, the researchers used May 2012 survey data from
2,144 U.S. households. Of the 1,539 households with parents and
children, the mean age of children was about 10 years. More than
half were born after universal hearing screenings were implemented
in their state.
Overall, about 63 percent of parents could recall their youngest
child being screened for hearing loss. About 6 percent said their
child's hearing wasn't screened and about 32 percent couldn't
remember.
Of those who could remember their youngest child being screened for
hearing loss, about 96 percent reported that the child passed in
both ears.
"That proportion of pass is not consistent with the pass rates we
would expect," said Pynnonen. "We’re concerned that too many parent
believe their child passed the test when they really didn’t."
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Among parents with children at high risk for hearing loss due to
jaundice, being premature, using antibiotics for infection or being
admitted to the intensive care unit, only about 69 percent
remembered hearing screenings.
"This is a group of kids where we know all the kids got tested and
they still can’t remember," said Pynnonen. But, she added, many of
these kids have other health conditions, which may have fogged
parents' memories.
Parents who attended at least some college, those with young
children and those with children at risk for hearing loss were more
likely to remember if their children underwent hearing screenings.
Getting follow-up treatment for the newborns who don't pass their
hearing screening is the missing part of care, said Dr. Alison
Maresh, an expert on pediatric ear, nose and throat medicine at
Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.
The responsibility for improving follow-up care is shared by parents
and healthcare providers, said Maresh, who was not involved with the
new study.
She also said parents should know that most babies who fail their
hearing screenings will go on to have normal hearing.
"So don’t panic just yet if you get an abnormal result, but make
sure you follow up," she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1TTs5qS JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck
Surgery, online March 10, 2016.
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