Newborn Hearing Screening
In the 1990s HHF helped advocate for universal newborn hearing screening legislation to detect hearing loss at birth. Now all 50 states and the District of Columbia have newborn screening laws or voluntary compliance programs, and over 98% of infants are tested; before 1993, fewer than 1 in 10 newborns in the U.S. were screened.
Credit: Utah Department of Health
The prevalence of hearing loss in 2019 was 1.7 per 1,000 babies screened for hearing loss, according to the CDC.
77.1% of infants received audiological evaluations and a diagnosis by 3 months of age, according to the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration.
Today, almost all hospitals and birthing centers throughout the U.S. screen newborns for hearing loss. New parents should talk to their doctors to make sure a hearing test was performed and ask for the results. If a baby’s hearing was not screened it is best to speak to a pediatrician and schedule an initial hearing screening before the child is 1 month old.
Roughly 1.7 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard of hearing.
Fortunately, early identification and intervention allows children with hearing loss to receive help during the first two years of life, a critical period for the development of speech and language skills, according to Dr. Robert Dobie, Senior Scientific Trustee, Hearing Health Foundation.
Left undetected, hearing loss can negatively impact speech and language acquisition, academic achievement, and social and emotional development. These negative impacts can diminish and even be eliminated through early detection and intervention.
Hospitals use two different types of newborn hearing screening tests. Both are safe and comfortable for your baby.
Otoacoustic Emissions Test
Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are given off by the inner ear when the cochlea is stimulated by a sound. When sound stimulates the cochlea, the outer hair cells vibrate. The vibration produces a nearly inaudible sound that echoes back into the middle ear. Those with typical hearing produce these emissions, while those with a hearing loss greater than 25-30 dB do not.
OAE tests are typically used during newborn screenings. During the test, a soft foam earphone and microphone are placed in the ear. If a baby hears normally, an echo is reflected back into the ear canal and is measured by the microphone. When a baby has a hearing loss, middle ear fluid, blockage or damage, no echo can be measured.
Auditory Brainstem Response Test
The auditory brainstem response (ABR) test provides information about the inner ear (cochlea) and brain pathways for hearing. When conducting ABR tests, hearing specialists play sounds into the baby’s ears. Bandage-like electrodes are placed on the baby’s head to detect brain wave activity. This test measures how the hearing nerve responds to sounds and can identify babies who have a hearing loss.
During ABR tests, the infant being tested rests quietly or sleeps while the test is performed. In newborn screenings only one intensity or loudness level is checked, and the baby either passes or fails the screen.
Legal History
“By ensuring that infants have access to hearing screenings at birth, parents can make informed choices about their care management early on. This is critically important, given that so much of a child’s development happens in the first few years of their life. I’m pleased that through the passage of this legislation, the newborn screening and intervention program can continue to improve health outcomes for kids.”
Hearing Health Foundation was instrumental in advocating for the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening legislation in the 1990s and for helping to preserve it through the Early Hearing Detection and Interaction Act of 2017.
Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY), pictured, above, and Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) led succcessfully led bipartisan efforts to preserve newborn hearing screenings in 2017.
Sources: CDC, ASHA, NIDCD