Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar;279(3):1221-1231.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-021-06748-y. Epub 2021 Mar 25.

Performance and characteristics of the Newborn Hearing Screening Program in Campania region (Italy) between 2013 and 2019

Rita Malesci  1 , Valeria Del Vecchio  2 , Dario Bruzzese  3 , Ernesto Burattini  2 , Gennaro Auletta  2 , Monica Errichiello  2 , Anna Rita Fetoni  4 , Annamaria Franzè  2 , Carla Laria  2 , Fabiana Toscano  2 , Antonio Caso  2 , Elio Marciano  2
Affiliations

Performance and characteristics of the Newborn Hearing Screening Program in Campania region (Italy) between 2013 and 2019

Rita Malesci et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) in the first month of life is crucial for facilitating both early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) of significant permanent hearing impairment (PHI). In Campania region, UNHS has been introduced in 2003 by the Regional Council Resolution and started on January 2007. The aim of this paper is to update a previous article describing the performance of the program since its implementation in the period between 2013 and 2019.

Methods: A longitudinal retrospective study was carried at the Regional Reference Center III on 350,178 babies born in the analysis period. The paper reports the main results of overall coverage, referral rate, lost-to-follow-up rate,yield for PHI and shall determine various risk factor associations with hearing impairment RESULTS: In Campania region, 318,878 newborns were enrolled at I level, with a coverage rate of 91.06%, 301,818 (86.18%) Well Infant Nurseries (WIN) and 17,060 (5.35%) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) babies. PHI was identified in 413 children, 288 (69.73%) bilaterally and 125 (30.26%) unilaterally. The overall cumulative incidence rate of PHI was 1.29 per 1000 live-born infants (95% CI 1.17-1.42) with a quite steady tendency during the whole study period.

Conclusions: This study confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of UNHS in Campania region also in a setting with major socioeconomic and health organization restrictions.The program meets quality benchmarks to evaluate the progress of UNHS. Nowadays, it is possible to achieve an early diagnosis of all types of HL avoiding the consequences of hearing deprivation.

Keywords: Coverage; Newborn hearing screening; Permanent childhood hearing loss; Positive predictive value; Refer rate; Risk factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Coverage by year
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Screen refer rates for overall, NICU and well babies
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Cumulative incidence rates of HL stratified according to severity and birth center
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Cumulative incidence rate of hearing loss for overall, NICU and well babies in the period of study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Yoshinaga-Itano C, Sedey AL, Coulter DK, Mehl AL. Language of early- and later-identified children with hearing loss. Pediatrics. 1998;102(5):1161–1171. doi: 10.1542/peds.102.5.1161. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Joint Committee on Infant Hearing Year 2019 Position Statement: principles and guidelines for early hearing detection and intervention programs. Early Hear Detect Interv. 2019;4(2):1–44. doi: 10.15142/fptk-b748. - DOI
    1. Hehar SS, Nikolopoulos TP, Gibbin KP, O’Donoghue GM. Surgery and functional outcomes in deaf children receiving cochlear implants before age 2 years. Arch Otolaryngol - Head Neck Surg. 2002;128(1):11–14. doi: 10.1001/archotol.128.1.11. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ambrose SE, Unflat Berry LM, Walker EA, Harrison M, Oleson J, Moeller MP. Speech sound production in 2-year-olds who are hard of hearing. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2014;23(2):91–104. doi: 10.1044/2014_AJSLP-13-0039. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pimperton H, Blythe H, Kreppner J, Mahon M, Peacock JL, Stevenson J, Terlektsi E, Worsfold S, Yuen HM, Kennedy CR. The impact of universal newborn hearing screening on long-term literacy outcomes: a prospective cohort study. Arch Dis Child. 2016;101(1):9–15. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2014-307516. - DOI - PMC - PubMed