Submit to JCM Review for JCM Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Newborn Hearing Loss: Detection and Intervention

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Otolaryngology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2021) | Viewed by 10228

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Lisa L. Hunter

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

1. Communication Sciences Research Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
2. Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Interests: ear; audiology; audiometry; hearing disorders; otolaryngology; hearing loss; deafness; auditory processing; auditory evoked potentials; auditory perception

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

Universal newborn hearing screening has revolutionized the fields of pediatric audiology and otolaryngology, resulting in markedly earlier diagnosis for congenital hearing loss (CHL) in countries that have developed widespread programs. Earlier diagnosis enables infants to receive access to auditory or visual communication during the crucial first months after birth through hearing aids, cochlear implants, and/or sign language. Early intervention has been shown to result in improved speech, language, and literacy outcomes. Factors that are important for early diagnosis, improved access to intervention, and to ensure optimal outcomes will be discussed in this Special Issue that includes perspectives from clinical studies in countries with well-developed programs. A number of gaps persist and require additional research, including identification and treatment of hearing loss that is temporary, slight–mild in degree, delayed onset or progressive. These problems are more difficult to determine but impact development adversely and require attention. Improved technology has been researched to address many of these issues, particularly in diagnostic testing and intervention methods. Increased recognition of the needs of infants who have additional disabilities that impact cognitive and language development has resulted in more research on the needs for multiply involved children. These advances could impact the lives of millions of children in developing countries who lack access to early detection and intervention for CHL.

Prof. Dr. Lisa L. Hunter
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Congenital hearing loss
Newborn hearing screening
Diagnostic audiology
Hearing aids
Cochlear implants

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 5533 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relationship between Behavioral Infant Speech Perception and Hearing Age for Children with Hearing Loss

by Kristin M. Uhler, Alexander M. Kaizer, Kerry A. Walker and Phillip M. Gilley

J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10(19), 4566; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10194566 - 30 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1801

Abstract

(1) Background: Research has demonstrated that early intervention for children who are hard-of-hearing (CHH) facilitates improved language development. Early speech perception abilities may impact CHH outcomes and guide future intervention. The objective of this study was to examine the use of a conditioned head turn (CHT) task as a measure of speech discrimination in CHH using a clinically feasible protocol. (2) Methods: Speech perception was assessed for a consonant and vowel contrast among 57 CHH and 70 children with normal hearing (CNH) aged 5–17 months using a CHT paradigm. (3) Results: Regardless of hearing status, 74% of CHH and 77% of CNH could discriminate /a-i/, and 55% of CHH and 56% of CNH could discriminate /ba-da/. Regression models revealed that both CHH and CNH performed better on /ba-da/ at 70 dBA compared to 50 dBA. Performance by hearing age showed no speech perception differences for CNH and children with mild hearing loss for either contrast. However, children with hearing losses ≥ 41 dB HL performed significantly poorer than CNH for /a-i/. (4) Conclusions: This study demonstrates the clinical feasibility of assessing early speech perception in infants with hearing loss and replicates previous findings of speech perception abilities among CHH and CNH. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Newborn Hearing Loss: Detection and Intervention)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

12 pages, 933 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Newborn Hearing Screening Benefits Children, but Global Disparities Persist

by Katrin Neumann, Philipp Mathmann, Shelly Chadha, Harald A. Euler and Karl R. White

J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11(1), 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11010271 - 05 Jan 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3892

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that newborn hearing screening (NHS) reduces the negative sequelae of permanent childhood hearing loss (PCHL) if performed in programs that aim to screen all newborns in a region or nation (often referred to as Universal Newborn Hearing Screening or UNHS). The World Health Organization (WHO) has called in two resolutions for the implementation of such programs and for the collection of large-scale data. To assess the global status of NHS programs we surveyed individuals potentially involved with newborn and infant hearing screening (NIHS) in 196 countries/territories (in the following text referred to as countries). Replies were returned from 158 countries. The results indicated that 38% of the world’s newborns and infants had no or minimal hearing screening and 33% screened at least 85% of the babies (hereafter referred to as UNHS). Hearing screening programs varied considerably in quality, data acquisition, and accessibility of services for children with PCHL. In this article, we summarize the main results of the survey in the context of several recent WHO publications, particularly the World Report on Hearing, which defined advances in the implementation of NHS programs in the Member States as one of three key indicators of worldwide progress in ear and hearing care (EHC). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Newborn Hearing Loss: Detection and Intervention)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 575 KiB

Open AccessReview

Outcomes of Universal Newborn Screening Programs: Systematic Review

by Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, Vinaya Manchaiah and Cynthia Hunnicutt

J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10(13), 2784; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10132784 - 24 Jun 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3955

Abstract

Background: This systematic review examined the outcomes (age of identification and intervention, developmental outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and adverse effects on parents) of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) for children with permanent congenital hearing loss (PCHL). Materials and methods: Multiple electronic databases were interrogated in March and April 2020 with further reports identified from article citations and unpublished literature. UNHS reports in English with comparisons of outcomes of infants who were not screened, and infants identified through other hearing screening programs. Results: 30 eligible reports from 14 populations with 7,325,138 infants screened through UNHS from 1616 non-duplicate references were included. UNHS results in a lower age of identification, amplification, and the initiation of early intervention services and better language/literacy development. Better speech perception/production were shown in younger, but not in older, children with early identification after UNHS. No significant findings were found for behavior problems and quality of life. UNHS was found to be cost-effective in terms of savings to society. In addition, no significant parental harm was noted as a result of UNHS. Conclusions: In highly developed countries, significantly better outcomes were found for children identified early through UNHS programs. Early language development predicts later literacy and language development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Newborn Hearing Loss: Detection and Intervention)

► Show Figures