New dissertation reports the need to improve screening programs for hearing loss in children

New dissertation reports the need to improve screening programs for hearing loss in children

Screening programs for hearing loss in children need to get better at collecting data and measuring results to increase quality, for example by improving the percentage of follow-up visits, says a new thesis from Karolinska Institutet.

One in 500 infants has permanent hearing loss, which can affect the development of their spoken language. Spoken language creates the foundation for reading, social communication and education.

“Delay in language development can have lifelong consequences, and therefore it is important that infants and children with hearing loss are treated as early as possible,” says Allison Mackey, who recently completed her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Inger Uhlén at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet.

Lack of data collection

The work examined, among other things, how well children's hearing screening programs worked and what strategies were used to improve their results.

For example, as part of a large multicenter project, we conducted an international survey on the status of screening programs in high- and middle-income countries in Europe. Most high-income countries were found to provide newborn hearing screening for all infants, although few middle-income countries had similar programs. We also found that data on screening program outcomes were not available in most countries.”

Allison Mackey, Karolinska Institutet

Important to improve aftercare

The work also shows that loss to follow-up is an area of ​​particular concern.

“In many programs around the world, a high percentage of infants who fail screening do not return for follow-up,” says Allison Mackey. “This could be due to a number of factors, but we have seen, for example, that the experience and knowledge of the staff involved in the screening program has an impact on the statistics.”

The passing criteria used for screening are important determinants of program sensitivity. Stricter criteria will result in more babies with hearing loss being identified in the screening program.

“However, the lack of data on many programs unfortunately makes it difficult to assess the quality of screening programs,” says Allison Mackey. "If decision makers want to address issues such as loss of follow-up, they must first understand the status quo. Therefore, the very first step to improving a screening program is to establish processes for data collection and regular monitoring." Evaluate results.”

Allison Mackey will defend her dissertation on October 14th.

Source:

Karolinska Institute

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