1. Does universal newborn hearing screening impact the timing of deafness treatment?
- Author
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Daniela de Oliveira Ruiz Dominguez, Marina Faistauer, Têmis Maria Félix, Sady Selaimen da Costa, Leticia Petersen Schmidt Rosito, Alice Lang Silva, and Renata Bohn
- Subjects
Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Screening test ,Hearing loss ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Age at diagnosis ,Deafness ,Hearing screening ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neonatal Screening ,Hearing ,030225 pediatrics ,Cochlear implant ,medicine ,otorhinolaryngologic diseases ,Neonatal hearing screening ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Child ,Hearing Loss ,Retrospective Studies ,business.industry ,Bilateral hearing loss ,Hearing Tests ,Infant, Newborn ,Infant ,Retrospective cohort study ,Cochlear implant surgery ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening (UNHS) on the age at diagnosis, beginning of treatment, and first cochlear implant surgery. Methods: A retrospective cohort study with children up to 12 years old with bilateral hearing loss were divided into two groups: patients who underwent UNHS and the ones who didn't. The groups were compared according to their age at the beginning of the evaluation at a specialized center, at the beginning of the intervention, and, for the ones who had indication, at the cochlear implant surgery. The group who underwent UNHS was divided between the ones who passed the screening test and the ones who didn’t. They were compared according to their ages at the same moments as the first two groups. Results: 135 patients were included. The median age at the first appointment in a specialized center was 1.42 (0.50 and 2.50) years, at the beginning of treatment 2.00 (1.00 and 3.52) years, and the cochlear implant surgery 2.83 (1.83 and 4.66) years. Children who underwent UNHS were younger than those who didn't, at the three evaluated moments (p < 0.001). In a subanalysis, children who passed the UNHS but were later diagnosed with hearing loss reached the first appointment with a specialist and started treatment older than those who failed the tests. Conclusion: Performing UNHS interfered with the timing of deafness diagnosis and treatment. However, children who passed the screening but were later diagnosed with hearing loss were the category with the most important delay.
- Published
- 2021