gms | German Medical Science

Objective: To assess the global status of newborn and infant hearing screening (NIHS) and its effectiveness in early detection and intervention of permanent childhood hearing loss (PCHL).

Methods: Individuals involved with NIHS of 196 countries were sent a questionnaire about coverage, strategies, and outcomes of country-specific NIHS programs, operating for a reference year between 2008 and 2018.

Findings: Questionnaires from 158 countries returned. Thirty-eight percent of the worlds population had no/minimal screening and 33% fully/near-fully implemented universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS). Countries with a full/near-full NIHS have a 10 times higher mean living standard than countries with NIHS coverage of <10%. The averaged age at diagnosis of a PCHL of screened children was 4.6 months, that one of non-screened children 34.9 months, the average age at start of intervention of screened children 6.9 months, that one of non-screened children 35.2 months. OAE (otoacoustic emissions) was the most used method (57 % of countries), followed by two-step OAE-AABR(automated auditory brainstem response) (30 %) and AABR (11%). The mean fail rate of the screenigs was 4.48% and the mean lost-to-follow up rate of infants who failed the screen was 17.16%. Prevalence of PCHL identified in NIHS programs ranged from 0.3 to 15.0 per 1,000 infants, with a median of 1.67.

Conclusion: Globally, UNHS moves the start of intervention for infant hearing loss to an age of optimal effectiveness. There is a need to invest in NIHS programs in low-income countries. Regular data collection may help to enhance the quality of NIHS programs.