The Rhode Island Hearing Assessment Program: Experience with statewide hearing screening (1993-1996)

• Published in: The Journal of pediatrics Vol. 133; no. 3; pp. 353 - 357
• Main Authors: Vohr, Betty R., Carty, Lisa M., Moore, Patricia E., Letourneau, Kristen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Mosby, Inc 01-09-1998; Elsevier; Mosby-Year Book, Inc
• Subjects: Age Factors; AIDS/HIV; Analysis of Variance; Auditory Perception - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cochlea - physiology; Electrodiagnosis. Electric activity recording; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Evoked Potentials, Auditory - physiology; Follow-Up Studies; Hearing - physiology; Hearing Aids; Hearing Disorders - diagnosis; Hearing Disorders - prevention & control; Hearing Disorders - therapy; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Medical sciences; Neonatal Screening; Nervous system; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Patient Compliance; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Referral and Consultation; Retrospective Studies; Rhode Island; Risk Factors; Rhode Island; NICU; TEOAE; nHL; RIHAP; RI; Human; Electrodiagnosis; Sanitary program; Newborn diseases; Newborn; Auditory evoked potential; Auditory disorder; ENT disease; Exploration; Diagnosis; Medical screening; Hearing loss
• ISSN: 0022-3476; 1097-6833
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3476(98)70268-9

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate key outcomes of a universal hearing screen/rescreen program for all births with transient evoked otoacoustic emissions in all 8 maternity hospitals in the state of Rhode Island over a 4-year period.
Study design: This was a retrospective analysis of the hearing screen/rescreen refer data collected prospectively for 53,121 survivors born in Rhode Island between January 1, l993, and December 31, l996. Primary outcomes included the first-stage refer rates, rescreen compliance, diagnostic referral rates, identification rates, and the age of amplification.
Results: During this 4-year time period 111 infants were identified with permanent hearing loss, resulting in an impairment rate of 2 per 1000. The mean age of hearing loss confirmation decreased from 8.7 months to 3.5 months, and the age at amplification declined from 13.3 months to 5.7 months.
Conclusion: We conclude that time and experience are important factors in the development and refinement of a universal hearing screen program. Hearing screen outcome data collected over a 4-year period in Rhode Island reveal a steady improvement in the percent of infants completing the 2-stage screen process, the stage 1 and stage 2 refer rates, compliance with rescreen and diagnostic testing, and significant improvement in the age of identification and age of amplification. (J Pediatr 1998;133:353-7)