Universal Hearing Screening Paper

The purpose of this paper is to revisit previous literature addressing universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS), review current practices of UNHS, evaluate the factors relating to UNHS, and identify areas for improvement. The importance of identifying hearing loss before 3 months, and receiving intervention by 6 months of age relates to children’s speech, language, academic, and social-emotional development. Early diagnosis allows a longer period of time for families to obtain necessary information and receive support they may need (Yoshinaga-Itano, 2003). The ultimate goal of UNHS is to detect hearing loss early in order to treat hearing loss sooner, potentially preventing a delay in children’s overall development (National Institute of

Over the past ten years, UNHS has increased significantly in the United States of America (Krishnan, 2009). As of 2011, Houston, Bradham, Muñoz, and Guignard stated more than 97% of all newborns receive a hearing screening before leaving their place of birth. Updates of UNHS has shown age of identification has continued to decrease since implementation of UNHS programs (Houston et al., 2011). UNHS has been noted to be successful in hospitals and birthing centers; however, an estimated 50% of infants referred from UNHS do not receive a timely diagnosis and intervention services. Shown in the Houston et al., 2011 study infants with hearing loss may be receiving services without it being documented in the tracking system. The UNHS program is undergoing constant changes to improve its protocol, notably, studies have suggested UNHS to be

Opponents stated that false-positive results may cause parental anxiety and result in unnecessary follow-up tests and possibly unnecessary interventions (Keren et al., 2002). In 2003, Baroch’s study consisted of an evaluation of maternal stress in relation to referral rates. The study indicated maternal stress was lower than what other studies previously suggested. According to the results, less than half of the mothers felt highly worried. The better the language development, the less parental stress, and the better social development of children. Overall, parental stress is most likely to lesson when infants are identified before three months of age (Yoshinaga-Itano & Gravel,