After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the prevalence and burden of hearing impairment. 2. Delineate the “gold” and “proxy” gold standards for measuring hearing impairment. 3. Describe the screening tests currently used to detect newborn hearing impairment. 4. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of universal newborn hearing screening. 5. Describe appropriate...

OBJECTIVES To determine: (i) the national status of newborn hearing screening services in the private health care sector of South Africa; (ii) screening approaches implemented; and (iii) challenges to screening implementation. DESIGN A descriptive national survey in the private sector of South Africa was conducted within a quantitative paradigm. METHOD All private health sector institutions...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common congenital infection and nongenetic cause of congenital sensorineural hearing loss in the United States. Utah was the first state to pass legislation mandating CMV screening for newborns who fail newborn hearing screening (NBHS). The study objective was to present outcomes of hearing-targeted CMV screening and determine factors ...

BACKGROUND Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at increased risk for hearing impairment which often remains undetected. If left untreated, such hearing impairments may worsen the social and communicative problems of these persons. The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence of hearing impairment, to specify type and degree of hearing loss, and to evaluate the sensitivity ...

Congenital hearing loss is estimated to affect one in every 1,000 newborns. Causes of hearing loss can be conductive, sensorineural, mixed, or central. Known risk factors for congenital hearing loss include cytomegalovirus infection and premature birth necessitating a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. However, up to 42 percent of profoundly hearing-impaired children will be missed using...

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of occult hearing loss in elderly inpatients, to evaluate feasibility of opportunistic hearing screening and to determine subsequent provision of hearing aids. MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects (>65 years) were recruited from five elderly care wards. Hearing loss was detected by a ward-based hearing screen comprising patient-reported assessment of hearing di...

OBJECTIVE The advent of technologic improvements in assessing the hearing of newborn infants has made possible the implementation of universal newborn hearing screening. Furthermore, selective screening based on high-risk criteria fails to detect half of all infants with congenital hearing loss. Although universal screening has been recommended by the National Institutes of Health and the Joint...