Universal Newborn Hearing Screening: Needs and Implementation

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The Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH, 1994) position statement was modified from the JCIH 1990, which addressed risk factors and recommended a specific hearing screening protocol (1990). Until 1993, newborn hearing screenings were focused on high-risk newborns. However, the high-risk criteria screening missed half of the children with a hearing loss, resulting in late diagnosis and intervention. The JCIH 1994 position statement and the National Institutes of Health (NIH, 1993) expressed the need for universal newborn hearing screening. Universal newborn hearing screening can be defined as identifying all children with hearing loss. The purpose of this paper is to present the following information: (a) by three months, screen all newborns though two hearing screening methods, (b) implement recommended protocol that is reliable and cost effective, and (c) by six months of age, intervention should be executed. The need for having all newborns screened by three months resulted from the high-risk criteria protocol missing 50% of newborns with hearing loss who were not identified in the high-risk group (JCIH, 1994). Therefore, detection of hearing loss in all children is crucial, thus screening methods should be evaluated. …show more content…

Based off the advantages and disadvantages, the NIH panel recognized EOAE and ABR as the most reliable measures for the universal screening. However, in order for optimal identification of hearing loss the NIH panel believes universal screening should begin with an initial screening by EOAE and if newborns fail the EOAE screening they should be rescreened by ABR. Newborns who fail the ABR screening will be referred for diagnostic testing (NIH, 1993). Analysis of cost/benefit should be considered by each newborn hearing screening program related to their specific protocol (JCIH,

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