Neonatal Hearing Screening Program: Implementation Report for Brittany, 2015–2016

The national screening program for permanent bilateral neonatal hearing loss (PBNHL), launched in December 2014, aims to establish the best possible conditions early on to support the language and communication development of deaf children within their families. The first stage of screening involves checking hearing during the hospital stay using objective, non-invasive methods. If the screening in the maternity ward does not confirm that the child has normal hearing in both ears, the screening must be followed by an examination conducted by an otolaryngologist (ENT specialist). Subsequently, the child enters the diagnostic phase, if necessary. The analyses focused on aggregated data by facility and by month of birth provided by the Regional Association for Screening and Prevention of Childhood Disabilities, the operator selected by the Brittany Regional Health Agency. For the ENT follow-up and diagnostic phase, the numbers of appointments scheduled and completed, cases of hearing loss diagnosed, and their types were compiled. The screening coverage rate was 99.5%. The initial refusal rate was 0.2%, with significant variations between facilities. The proportion of children suspected of having UHS after the facility-based screening phase was 1.0%. After an initial follow-up appointment with an ENT specialist (for 90.0% of children suspected of having UHS), 38.0% of children were still suspected of having UHS, representing 0.4% of children screened at the maternity ward. In total, 32 and 28 cases of bilateral hearing loss (including 21 cases of moderate to profound severity) were diagnosed in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The rate of moderate-to-profound UHNS (defined as hearing loss greater than 40 dB) was 0.6 per 1,000 births screened over the two-year period. This rate is lower than the expected figure of 1 per 1,000 reported in the literature. This raises questions about the quality of practices and the reporting of information to the operator. Staff training, the formalization of protocols within institutions, and peer-to-peer exchanges during regional meetings will help improve the quality of screening and diagnosis.

Author(s): Tillaut Hélène, Doncarli Alexandra, Da Costa V, Godey C, Roussey M, Goulet V, King Lisa

Publishing year: 2019

Pages: 36 p.

Collection: Studies and Surveys

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