Analysis of an outpatient child hearing health program: from screening to referral for rehabilitation.
Kátia de Cássia Botasso, Maria Cecília Marconi Pinheiro Lima, Carlos Roberto Silveira Correa
PMID 35137893WHAT IT FOUND
An outpatient hearing program screened 97% of newborns and started therapy for all diagnosed children immediately.
However, only 16.66% received a confirmed diagnosis by 3 months old, and just 10% got hearing aids within one month of diagnosis.
Key findings
01The program achieved 97.00% mean coverage for first-stage screening, with 91% of participants screened by 30 days old.
02Only 3 of 18 participants who attended diagnostic assessment had hearing loss confirmed by 3 months old, with a mean age at diagnosis of 21 months.
03All 12 children diagnosed with permanent hearing loss began speech-language-hearing therapy immediately, but only 1 of 10 candidates received a hearing aid within one month of diagnosis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relied on secondary data from record books and spreadsheets, which may have missing or inconsistent entries. The analysis included children screened after the neonatal period (up to 2 years old), which may skew the 'neonatal' screening metrics. The study reports on program process indicators (coverage, timing) but does not assess child health or language outcomes. Loss to follow-up occurred during the brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) screening stage, with only 70.48% of referred infants attending.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP).
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high screening coverage and immediate therapy start as evidence that the program successfully met early intervention benchmarks. The study explicitly failed the key quality indicators for age at diagnosis (3 months) and hearing aid fitting (1 month), meaning most children waited far longer than recommended for definitive care.