Outcomes of regional-based newborn hearing screening for 35,461 newborns for 5 years in Akita, Japan

Teruyuki Sato; Misao Nakazawa; Shin Takahashi; Tomomi Mizuno; Kazuo Ishikawa; Takechiyo Yamada

doi:10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.109870

Outcomes of regional-based newborn hearing screening for 35,461 newborns for 5 years in Akita, Japan

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2020 Apr:131:109870. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.109870. Epub 2020 Jan 10.

Authors

Teruyuki Sato¹, Misao Nakazawa², Shin Takahashi³, Tomomi Mizuno⁴, Kazuo Ishikawa⁵, Takechiyo Yamada⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Omagari Kousei Medical Center, Daisen, Japan. Electronic address: teruyukisato@gmail.com.
² Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Akita Prefectural Center for Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Medicine, Daisen, Japan; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nakadori General Hospital, Akita, Japan.
³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery. Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, Japan; Takahashi ENT & Eye Clinic, Yokote, Japan.
⁴ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery. Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, Japan.
⁵ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Japanese Red Cross Akita Hospital, Akita, Japan.

PMID: 31951982
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.109870

Abstract

Objectives: Newborn hearing screening (NHS) has been actively performed since 2001 in Akita, Japan. The NHS coverage rate has increased yearly, and performance has been consistently >90% since 2012. The purpose of this study was to summarize NHS outcomes in the Akita prefecture of Japan and to obtain new insights for from our summarized data for the future.

Methods: A total of 35,461 newborns in hospitals and clinics where hearing screening was performed in Akita from 2012 to 2016 were included. The outcome data of NHS were collected for analysis.

Results: The overall screening coverage rate for hearing loss was 94.7%. Of the screened infants, 0.53% received a referral on the 2-stage automated auditory brainstem response (ABR), and 80.4% of referred infants had a check-up at the hospital to receive a diagnostic hearing examination. Finally, the prevalence of bilateral congenital hearing loss was 0.14%, that of bilateral moderate to profound hearing loss was 0.12%, and that of unilateral congenital hearing loss was 0.10%. Furthermore, the average consultation period in infants with risk factors was significantly later than that in infants without risk factors (p = 0.0015). Follow-up for infants diagnosed with normal hearing after diagnostic hearing examination revealed that 4.7% suffered bilateral moderate to profound hearing loss later. This percentage is significantly higher than that of the general group (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The prevalence of bilateral congenital hearing loss was 0.14% in Akita and 0.12% of infants were diagnosed with bilateral moderate to severe hearing loss. Medical personnel should be enlightened regarding the importance of performing hearing diagnostic examinations until 3 months of age. Even if infants were diagnosed with normal hearing after a diagnostic examination, we strongly suggest continuing follow-up until they are able to perform pure tone audiometry with accuracy.

Keywords: 2-Stage automated auditory brainstem response; Congenital hearing loss; Newborn hearing screening; Public health.

MeSH terms

Audiometry, Pure-Tone
Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem
Female
Hearing Loss, Bilateral / congenital*
Hearing Loss, Bilateral / diagnosis*
Hearing Loss, Bilateral / epidemiology
Hearing Loss, Unilateral / congenital*
Hearing Loss, Unilateral / diagnosis*
Hearing Loss, Unilateral / epidemiology
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Japan
Male
Neonatal Screening*
Referral and Consultation
Risk Factors