Improving Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Outcomes by Conducting It With Thyroid Screening Publisher Pubmed



Rahimi V¹ ; Mohammadkhani G¹ ; Javadi F² Show Affiliations
Source: International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology Published:2018

Abstract

Objectives: One of the most important factors that can improve hearing screening indicators is testing infants after 48 h of birth. The neonatal thyroid screening program is done during the third to fifth day after birth in many countries. So this screening is done at the appropriate time for hearing screening. The aim of the present study was to evaluate hearing screening outcomes (the referral rate, false positive rate, and positive predictive value) conducted with the thyroid screening at the healthcare centers and compare the results with hospital before discharge the infant. Methods: This was a prospective exploratory cohort study. The study population included all the newborns at a hospital (group 1) and newborns who were referred to healthcare centers for thyroid screening (group 2), except for infants with risk factors, from March 2012 to December 2017. Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) and automatic auditory brainstem response (AABR) were used for the evaluation. The results were compared between the two groups. Results: Of the 4729 newborns, who participated in the study, 3001 were referred from a hospital (group 1) and 1728 from two healthcare centers (group 2). The referral rate in group 1 and 2 was 16.1% and 7.6%, respectively. Also, the false positive rate in group 1 and 2 was 15.9% and 7.6%, respectively. Our study showed that the referral rate and false positive rate of hearing screening in group 2 were significantly lower than that in group 1 (p < 0.001). The positive predictive value in group 1 was significantly higher than that in group 2 (p < 0.05). There was no significant sex difference in any of the variables. Conclusions: Our results showed that performing the hearing screening during the thyroid program, instead of the hospital could be significantly improved screening outcomes and suggest that hearing and thyroid screening together after discharge from the hospital could be a good opportunity to introduce new framework for hearing screening in many countries. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.