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Sustained progress reported in early hearing loss screening, intervention programs
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Between 2006 and 2012, increases were reported in screening, diagnosis, and early intervention rates for hearing loss in U.S. infants, according to the CDC.
Researchers additionally observed a decrease in the number of infants lost to follow-up and lost to documentation.
“Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs should continue to work with health care providers who provide diagnostic and early intervention services to accurately document the receipt of necessary follow-up services, thereby increasing the opportunities for infants to receive proper care to minimize the negative impact that hearing loss can have on their speech, language and emotional development,” the researchers wrote.
Programs are aimed at ensuring that all newborns are screened for hearing loss, receive proper follow-up diagnostic testing when they do not pass screening and are enrolled in early intervention services when diagnosed with permanent hearing loss.
For this analysis, CDC researchers sought to assess the progress made in identifying children with hearing loss and in reducing the rates of lost to follow-up and enrollment in early intervention programs between 2006 and 2012.
According to study results, there was an increase in the number of jurisdictions reporting early hearing loss data from 49 jurisdictions during 2006 to 57 jurisdictions in 2012.
Moreover, screening rates increased from 95.2% to 96.6%, rates of enrollment in early interventions among those diagnosed with hearing loss increased from 55.4% to 61.7% and diagnosis of infants who did not pass final screening increased from 4.8% to 10.3%.
Decreases were observed in screening referrals (from 2.3% to 1.6%) and in lost to follow-up/lost to documentation for diagnostic testing.
“To build on the recent improvements summarized here and ensure continued progress toward identifying and providing early intervention for all infants with permanent hearing loss, current practices should evolve and take advantage of new collaborations and opportunities, such as emerging technologies,” the researchers wrote. – Jennifer Southall
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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