Universal neonatal hearing screening

Universal neonatal hearing screening (UNHS), which is part of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programmes, refer to those services aimed at screening hearing of all newborns, regardless of the presence of a risk factor for hearing loss. UNHS is the first step in the EHDI program which indicates whether a newborn requires further audiological assessment to determine the presence or absence of permanent hearing loss. Newborn hearing screening uses objective testing methods (usually otoacoustic emission (OAE) testing or automated auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing) to screen the hearing of all newborns in a particular target region, regardless of the presence or absence of risk factors. Even among developed countries, until the 1990s, it could take years for hearing-impaired child to be diagnosed and to benefit from a health intervention and amplification. This delay still can happen in developing countries. If children are not exposed to sounds and language during their first years of life because of a hearing loss, they will have difficulty in developing spoken or signed language; cognitive development and social skills could also be affected. This screening separates children into two groups—those with a high index of suspicion (more likely to have permanent congenital hearing loss) and those with a low index of suspicion (less likely to have permanent congenital hearing loss). Those in the first group are referred for diagnostic testing.