Many children develop permanent hearing impairment even after neonatal screening

One in 800 children is thought to have permanent hearing impairment, but prevalence studies to date have had limitations. Fortnum et al (p 536) used capture-recapture methods to analyse a total ascertainment of children with permanent hearing impairment in the United Kingdom. They report that prevalence rises to 1 in 500 at age 9 years. Universal neonatal hearing screening is being implemented in the United Kingdom. The authors conclude that for every 10 hearing impaired babies detected by screening, another 5-9 children could manifest permanent hearing impairment by age 9.

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Relevant Article

Prevalence of permanent childhood hearing impairment in the United Kingdom and implications for universal neonatal hearing screening: questionnaire based ascertainment study • Commentary: Universal newborn hearing screening: implications for coordinating and developing services for deaf and hearing impaired children

Heather M Fortnum, A Quentin Summerfield, David H Marshall, Adrian C Davis, John M Bamford, Adrian Davis, Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, and Sally Hind
BMJ 2001 323: 536. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]