Abstract
The burden of severe hearing impairment is increasing with two-thirds of these hearing impaired people residing in developing countries. Newborn hearing screening helps to identify early, babies who need intervention in order to prevent future disability. Neither universal nor targeted hearing screening programme is available in Nigeria.Objectives: This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of hearing impairment among high-risk newborns in UCH and the associated risk factors.Materials and Methods: Two hundred one newborns in the neonatal unit of UCH with risk factors for hearing impairment had hearing screening done using automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) at 30, 45, and 70 dB at admission and discharge, and those that failed screening at discharge were rescreened at 6 weeks post-discharge.Results: Eighty-three (41.3%) and 32 (15.9%) high-risk newborns failed at admission and discharge screening respectively, and 19 (9.5%) still failed at follow up screening. The majority of hearing loss at follow up was bilateral (94.7%) and severe (52.6%). The risk factors associated with persistent hearing loss at follow up were acute bilirubin encephalopathy (RR = 11.2, CI: 1.4–90.6), IVH (RR = 8.8, CI: 1.1–71.8), meningitis (RR = 4.8, CI: 1.01–29), recurrent apnoea (RR = 2.7, CI: 1.01–7.3), severe perinatal asphyxia NNE III (RR = 7, CI: 2.4–20.2).Conclusion: Severe and bilateral hearing impairment is a common complication among high risk newborns in UCH persisting till 6 weeks post-neonatal care. Severe perinatal asphyxia with NNE III, ABE, IVH, meningitis and administration of amikacin for more than 5 days were significant risk factors. We recommend that SCBU graduates with these risk factors should have mandatory audiologic evaluation at discharge.
Highlights
Intact hearing is an essential requirement for speech and language development, so children with hearing loss will be unable to develop speech and this puts such children at a disadvantage socially, emotionally, educationally, and economically among their peers [1, 2] Hearing impairment is a common treatable disability in childhood if diagnosed early and appropriate
The Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) of American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) defines target hearing loss as “congenital permanent bilateral, unilateral, sensory, permanent conductive, or neural hearing loss, averaging 30–40 dB or more in the frequency region important for speech recognition (∼500–4,000 hertz),” which will interfere with the normal development of speech and language [1, 3]
This was a longitudinal cohort study of babies with risk factors (JCIH risk factors) [1] for hearing impairment admitted into the neonatal unit of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria, between November 2014 and February 2015
Summary
Intact hearing is an essential requirement for speech and language development, so children with hearing loss will be unable to develop speech and this puts such children at a disadvantage socially, emotionally, educationally, and economically among their peers [1, 2] Hearing impairment is a common treatable disability in childhood if diagnosed early and appropriateHearing Impairment Among High-Risk Newborn intervention instituted. About 796,000 babies suffer permanent hearing loss within the neonatal period annually and majority of these newborns reside in developing countries where routine hearing screening is not readily available [5, 6]. A retrospective review of 6 years of Universal hearing screening in Qatar, showed that 95% coverage of all babies born was achievable which enabled identification of up to two-thirds of babies with hearing impairment by 6 months of age. This identification made it possible to offer interventions to majority of them by 2.5 years of age [10]
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