[Hearing loss in infancy. Who first suspects it? A descriptive analysis?]

[Early detection of unilateral connatal hearing loss via newborn hearing screening and the implementation of the SAV-concept 2017 in lower Austria and Burgenland]

BACKGROUND

Recent studies showed the benefit or even need of hearing aids or cochlear implants in children with unilateral hearing loss to improve localization abilities and speech intelligibility. Therefore, the Audiology working group of the Austrian ENT society adopted the SAV-concept in 2017 (Screening Abklärung Versorgung von konnatalen Hörstörungen - Konzeptpapier 2017 AG Audiologie) to establish methods for testing, the mode of testing both ears, the desired schedule for the screening process and the subsequent therapy.

METHODS

The screening data were collected via questionnaires sent to all maternity and neonatal wards in different districts by responsible persons of the Austrian ENT society. Data on the implementation of the SAV concept were evaluated retrospectively based on the responses for the regions of Lower Austria and Burgenland.

RESULTS

The feedback, the implementation and responsibility for the screening program in respect of method and schedule differs throughout the federal states of Austria as well as in hospitals of state health organizations.

CONCLUSION

Austria in comparison to other European countries is missing a central documentation and tracking system via a governmental screening coordination office as the data are not generally transferred to a common birth register. Therefore, different timetables and organization for the universal new born hearing screening in the federal states as well as in state organizations were found causing a delayed diagnosis and treatment of children with unilateral hearing loss.

[Quality assurance of a universal newborn hearing screening. Recommendations of the German Society of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology]

Statutory implementation of a universal newborn hearing screening requires a continuous quality assurance monitoring. Therefore, at the Annual Meeting in 2007, the members of the German Society of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology passed a recommendation on measures of quality assurance applied to newborn hearing screening. This recommendation describes the procedures, performance, location, time frame, and technical prerequisites of the screening and of potentially necessary follow-ups, the definition of hearing loss to be detected, the performing and responsible professional groups and their qualifications for the screening, the regulation of repeat and control screenings, the confirmation diagnostics and initiation of therapy, the information of parents, the documentation of screening results, the aims and organization of a tracking system, the tasks of regional screening centers and of a supraregional institution for the quality assurance of the hearing screening, the central collection of person and screening-related quality relevant data, and the accessibility of defined data sets as predisposition for cost analyses and quality reports.