Otorinolaringologia 2020 Dec 02

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-6621.20.02335-8

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Evaluation of newborn hearing screening program in ASL RM 1, Rome Italy

Francesca CIANFRONE ¹, Farah UBAH ², Carolina CAZZANIGA ², Sakina ABUHAJAR ³, Massimo RALLI ⁴ ✉, Diletta ANGELETTI ⁴, Raffaele CHIARELLI ¹, Francesco TAURO ¹, Mario BOSCIONI ², Paolo RUSCITO ¹

¹ Otolaryngology Unit, ASL RM 1, Rome Italy; ² Neonatology Department, ASL RM 1, Rome Italy; ³ Neonatology Department, Cristo Re Hospital, Rome, Italy; ⁴ Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the Newborn Hearing Screening Program of ASL RM 1, Rome Italy, from January 2019 to March 2020, according to Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) recommendations, as well as to describe the prevalence of risk factors for hearing loss within the study population and their impact on the respective program. The registration records of screened newborns throughout the territory of ASL RM1, which comprises as Neonatology Department, San Filippo Neri Hospital, Santo Spirito Hospital, Cristo Re Hospital, Santa Famiglia Clinic and San Filippo Neri Hospital were analyzed. It was established the prevalence of “pass” and “fail” in test and retest, retest percentage of attendance and referral for audiological diagnosis. Risk factors for hearing loss were described, as well as their influence on “pass” and “fail” rates. A total of 5107 newborns were screened at First Level with Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE); for the second level with OAE, Automated Auditory Brainstem Response testing, 70% presented no risk factors whereas 99% did, antibiotic therapy being the most frequent. Regarding the percentage of referral for diagnosis, the program reached indexes recommended by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing. The most prevalent risk factor within the population was antibiotic therapy.

KEY WORDS: Universal newborn hearing screening; Hearing loss; Congenital risk factors; Otoacoustic emissions; Automated auditory brainstem response