Analysis of follow-up at the diagnostic level in the Polish Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening Programme

Abstract

Objectives Routine analysis showed that between 1 June and 30 November 2014, only 47.6% of expected follow-up visits at the diagnostic level were registered in the Polish Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening Programme central database. We attempted to detect and analyse the reasons for this low percentage. Methods A telephone survey questionnaire was developed for parents whose children had not registered for consultation at the diagnostic level, or had not received a final diagnosis according to the programme database. Questions aimed to verify the database records and compare these with information received from and given to parents. From the 7888 children not registered at the diagnostic level, 3239 records were randomly selected, i.e. 52.4% of those who had been expected to attend. Results Questions were answered by 1950 parents (60.2% of the selected group). Of these, 52.1% ( n = 734) had attended for diagnostic tests, but this was not recorded in the database. The most common reasons for not attending were the long waiting time for the visit (36.09%), lack of referral to a visit (25.9%) and conscious parent decision (16.35%). Conclusion The telephone survey disclosed omissions in database registration, and that in fact 83.6% of children had attended at the diagnostic level.