A conceptual framework for rationalized and standardized Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) programs.

Carlo Giacomo Leo,Pierpaolo Mincarone,Giuseppe Latini,John B Wong,Saverio Sabina

doi:10.1186/s13052-016-0223-1

Abstract

Congenital hearing loss is the most frequent birth defect. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing established quality of care process indicators for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening starting from 1999. In a previous systematic review of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening studies we highlighted substantial variability in program design and in reported performance data. In order to overcome these heterogeneous findings we think it is necessary to optimize the implementation of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programs with an appropriate application of the planning, executing, and monitoring, verifications and reporting phases. For this reason we propose a conceptual framework that logically integrates these three phases and, consequently, a tool (a check-list) for their rationalization and standardization.Our paper intends to stimulate debate on how to ameliorate the routine application of high quality Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programs. The conceptual framework is proposed to optimize, rationalise and standardise their implementation. The checklist is intended to allow an inter-program comparison by removing heterogeneity in processes description and assessment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13052-016-0223-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most frequently occurring permanent congenital defects at birth with a prevalence of 0.1–0.3 % for newborns [1,2,3,4] (2–5 % in presence of audiological risk factors) [5]
With the aim to verify whether literature reporting experiences on hospital-based Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening (UNHS) programs include sufficient information to allow inter-program comparisons according to the already available indicators/benchmarks defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Joint Committee on infant hearing (JCIH), we performed a
The conceptual framework for rationalized and standardized UNHS programs The framework is structured on several phases: 1) A planning phase based on indications from guidelines and recommendations, specificities of the local context, benchmarks, reports from verification phase

Summary

Introduction

Sensorineural hearing loss is one of the most frequently occurring permanent congenital defects at birth with a prevalence of 0.1–0.3 % for newborns [1,2,3,4] (2–5 % in presence of audiological risk factors) [5]. In 2007 the JCIH recommended timely and accurate monitoring of relevant quality measures, based on its reviewed performance indicators and benchmarks, as an essential practice for inter-program comparison and continuous quality improvement [17].

Results

Conclusion