Failure of hearing screening in high-risk neonates does not increase parental anxiety

• Published in: The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine Vol. 26; no. 9; pp. 932 - 935
• Main Authors: Suppiej, A., Cainelli, E., De Benedittis, M., Rizzardi, E., Bisiacchi, P. S., Ermani, M., Orzan, E., Zanardo, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa UK Ltd 01-06-2013; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - etiology; Auditory screening; Case-Control Studies; emotional state; Female; Hearing Disorders - congenital; Hearing Disorders - diagnosis; Hearing Disorders - psychology; Hearing Tests - psychology; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Newborn, Diseases - diagnosis; Infant, Newborn, Diseases - psychology; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; Male; Neonatal Screening - psychology; newborn; NICU; Parents - psychology; Risk Factors; Severity of Illness Index; STAI; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 1476-7058; 1476-4954
• DOI: 10.3109/14767058.2013.766687

Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether a failure of neonatal hearing screening affected the anxiety level of parents of high-risk infants.
Methods: Two hundred and eighty-eight parents of infants included in the neonatal hearing screening protocol of our Institution were tested with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and with an open-question questionnaire investigating parents' attitude to hearing problems in their child, done at the time of audiological follow-up. 105 were parents of high-risk infants who had been discharged from neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and 183 of low-risk infants discharged from well-baby nursery.
Results: No differences in anxiety levels were seen between parents of high-risk infants passing and failing neonatal hearing screening using homogeneous case-control pairs. Additionally, no differences in the level of anxiety were found between parents of high- and low-risk infants failing neonatal auditory screening.
Conclusions: Failure of neonatal auditory screening does not affect the anxiety levels of parents of high-risk infants at post discharge from NICU. This finding is a key factor to be considered when evaluating the costs and benefits of tests for universal neonatal hearing screening.