Abstract

To determine our audiology clinics status in meeting the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing recommended 1-3-6 benchmarks for identification and intervention for congenital sensorineural hearing loss and identify those factors contributing to delay in identification and intervention. This is a retrospective case series. Children with sensorineural hearing loss who underwent auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, hearing aid evaluation, or cochlear implant mapping at our tertiary pediatric medical center between January 2018 and December 2021 were included. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were used to identify social, demographic, and health factors associated with primary outcomes, defined as age at hearing loss identification, age at intervention (here defined as amplification start), and interval between identification and intervention. Of 132 patients included, mean age was 2.4 years, 48% were male, and 51% were Hispanic. There was significant association between each Hispanic ethnicity (p = 0.005, p = 0.04, respectively), insurance type (p = 0.02, p = 0.001, respectively), and later age at identification and intervention. In multivariable analyses, Hispanic ethnicity was significantly associated with both delays in identification and intervention (p = 0.03 and p = 0.03, respectively), and public insurance was associated with delays in intervention (p = 0.01). In addition, the total number of ABRs was significantly associated with both older age of identification and intervention (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). Mediator analysis demonstrated that the effect of ethnicity on age at identification is mediated by the total number of ABRs performed. A significant association between total number of ABRs and age at identification and intervention for children with hearing loss exists. Hispanic ethnicity was associated with delays in meeting milestones, further mediated by the number of ABRs, providing a potential avenue for intervention in addressing this disparity.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.