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. 2023 Oct 23;9(4):61.
doi: 10.3390/ijns9040061.

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program: 10-Year Outcome and Follow-Up from a Screening Center in Germany

Kruthika Thangavelu  1 , Kyriakos Martakis  2   3 , Silke Feldmann  4 , Bernhard Roth  5 , Peter Herkenrath  3 , Ruth Lang-Roth  4
Affiliations

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Program: 10-Year Outcome and Follow-Up from a Screening Center in Germany

Kruthika Thangavelu et al. Int J Neonatal Screen. .

Abstract

Regular reporting of quality control is important in newborn hearing screening, ensuring early diagnosis and intervention. This study reports on a population-based newborn hearing screening program in North-Rhine, Germany and a hospital-based screening at a University Hospital for 2007-2016. The two-staged 'screening' and 'follow-up' program involving TEOAE and AABR recruited newborns through participating birth facilities. Results were sent to the regional tracking center, and the data were analyzed based on recommended benchmarks. The percentage of newborns from the participating birth facilities in the region increased from 1.4% in 2007 to 57.5% in 2016. The 10-year coverage rate for these newborns was 98.7%, the referral rate after a failed two-step screening was 3.4%, and the lost-to-follow-up rate was 1%. At the hospital, >95% of the screened newborns completed screening within 30 days, the 10-year referral rate was 5%, and 64% were referred within 3 months of age. The median time for screening completion was 6 days after birth, for referral it was 74 days after birth, and for diagnosis it was 55 days after birth. Regional-centralized tracking centers with uniform structure are necessary for proper quality control. Obligatory participation of birthing facilities and quality reports may improve performance, but the recommended quality criteria need considerable financial and infrastructural expenditure.

Keywords: benchmarks; hospital-based screening; newborn hearing screening; population-based screening; quality control.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Two-staged newborn hearing screening program in North-Rhine. S1: screening phase 1; S2: screening phase 2; FU1: Follow-up phase 1; FU2: Follow-up phase 2; DSFC: designated screening and follow-up center; TEOAE: automated transient otoacoustic emissions; AABR: automated auditory brainstem response.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Newborn hearing screening at University Children’s Hospital for the years 2007–2016 with Benchmark indicators (BM) 1, 2, and 3.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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