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Correspondence

Indian Pediatr 2016;53: 441-442

Is Newborn Hearing Screening Worthwhile in India?: Authors Reply

 

Abraham K Paul

Cochin Hospital, Cochin, Kerala, India.
Email: [email protected]

  


1. Charge of Rs. 150/- per child is a one-time payment and covers repeat testings. Program was not supported by any grant.

2. The Cochin model of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) is a huge social investment for early detection and intervention. The social, emotional and physical cost of the 162 cases of deafness detected cannot be quantified just with money. The screening has a futuristic and prophylactic utility; it creates awareness for the future among the profession and the lay public to look out for possibility of hearing impairment. By paying Rs.150/-, screen negative parents are happy that their child has normal hearing and screen-positive parents are relieved their child’s problem is detected early for effective management.

3. Surveys have shown that 14% mothers reported anxiety to a positive screen [1]. It is also reported that regardless of anxiety, 90% of all respondents were glad that their children had a hearing test and thought that universal hearing screening was a good idea [2]. We reiterate to the parents that the next level of testing is undertaken to rule out for good if there is hearing impairment or not. It is soothing for most parents. Therefore, the anxiety is only similar to any other screening tool that is used in medicine.

4. Screening tests pick up hearing loss up to 30-35 db and not profound hearing loss.

5. It is unreasonable to claim that most mothers pick up deafness in children before the age of 6 months on their own. Responses to conventional sound cues are crude and non-standardized and should never be resorted to, when we have better, non-invasive standardized procedures. 

Considering all these, the apprehension that the tool is not cost-effective in India does not stand to reason. The usefulness and cost-effectiveness of Newborn Hearing Screening procedure prompted the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India to include Newborn Hearing Screening in ‘Rashtriya Bal Suraksha Karyakaram’ 2013.

References

1. Clements CJ, Davis SA, Baily AR. The False - positive in Universal Newborn Hearing Screening. Pediatrics. 2000;106;e7.

2. Mason JA, Herrman KR. Universal Infant Hearing Screening by automated auditory brainstem response measurement. Pediatrics. 1998;101:221-8.

 

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