United Kingdom school-entry hearing screening: current practice

[Childhood hearing screening: achievements, difficulties, and possible ways to improve]

Hearing impairment is the most common sensory impairment that is seen among adults and children. The frequency of congenital hearing loss is well-known due to implementation of newborn hearing screening. Hearing may change throughout a lifetime due to different factors and, therefore, the number of hearing impaired children increases with age. Introduction of universal newborn hearing screening has enabled earlier detection of hearing loss including unilateral and minimal disorders. Nevertheless, despite significant progress made in this field, there is still a group of hearing impairments that stay undiagnosed timely. Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders, late-onset hearing loss, low-frequency and minimal hearing impairment are sometimes missed in newborn hearing screening or they manifest later. These types of hearing disorders are covered in detail in this review as well as possible ways of increasing the effectiveness of early diagnosis.

Prevalence of extended high-frequency hearing loss among adolescents from two rural areas in Colombia

OBJECTIVE

Worldwide research trends on the prevalence of hearing loss within young rural populations are scarce. Current evidence suggests extended high-frequency audiometry could be a sensitive predictor to detect subclinical hearing loss. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hearing loss through conventional pure tone (0.25-8 kHz) and extended high-frequency (9-20 kHz) audiometry tests in a group of adolescents aged 13 to 19 years old from two rural areas of Colombia. A sociodemographic and associated factor for hearing loss questionnaire was applied.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

STUDY SAMPLE

Three hundred sixty-six adolescents aged 13 to 19 years old from two rural municipalities in Colombia: Soracá, and Palmas del Socorro.

RESULTS

Hearing loss prevalence assessed through pure tone audiometry was 3.28% in right ears and 3.83% in left ears while through extended high-frequency audiometry was 14.21% and 13.11%, respectively. Associated factors found by the logistic regression were age (OR: 1.36; CI 95% 1.13-1.64) and obesity (OR: 3.74; CI 95% 1.07-13.11).

CONCLUSIONS

Using 15 dB as the normal hearing threshold parameter for audiometric frequencies, our results suggest that extended high-frequency hearing loss is already widespread among rural adolescents. This highlights the need for research on extended high-frequency audiometry in rural school-aged children.

Prevention of communication disorders--screening pre-school and school-age children for problems with hearing, vision and speech: European Consensus Statement

Background

Communication is an integral part of human behaviour. Communication disorders are associated mainly with impairment in hearing, vision, and/or speech, which influences the ability to receive, comprehend, produce, and express verbal, nonverbal, and graphic information. When unrecognized and unmanaged, these very often “invisible” conditions can have a significant detrimental effect on a child’s development, affecting educational, social, and psychological progress.

Material/Methods

A panel of experts discussed the screening of pre-school and school-age children for problems with hearing, vision, and speech during the 10^th Congress of the European Federation of Audiology Societies (EFAS), held in Warsaw, Poland, on 22 June, 2011.

Results

The European Consensus Statement on Hearing, Vision, and Speech Screening in Pre-School and School-Age Children was the result of the scientific discussions. It was endorsed by experts in audiology, otolaryngology, phoniatry, ophthalmology, and speech language pathology from throughout Europe^*. Key elements of the consensus, as described herein, are: 1) defining the role of screening programmes in the identification and treatment of communication disorders; 2) identifying the target population; 3) promoting general awareness about the consequences of communication disorders; 4) recognizing the need for a quality control system in screening programmes; 5) encouraging cooperation among European countries to provide a high level of public health services for the prevention, identification, and treatment of communication disorders.

Conclusions

The European Consensus Statement on Hearing, Vision, and Speech Screening in Pre-School and School-Age Children will encourage the appropriate authorities of the various countries involved to initiate screening for communication disorders in pre-school and school-age children.

Screening for pre-school and school-age hearing problems: European Consensus Statement

OBJECTIVES

To formulate consensus statement and policies on structured hearing screening programs in pre-school and school-age children in Europe. This consensus will be brought before the European Union's Member States as a working and effective program with recommendations for adoption.

METHODS

A distinguished panel of experts discussed hearing screening of pre-school and school-age children during the 10th Congress of European Federation of Audiology Societies (EFAS), held in Warsaw, Poland, on June 22, 2011. The panel included experts in audiology, otolaryngology, communication disorders, speech language pathology, education and biomedical engineering.

RESULTS

Consensus was reached on thirteen points. Key elements of the consensus, as described herein, are: (1) defining the role of pre-school and school screening programs in the identification and treatment of hearing problems; (2) identifying the target population; (3) recognizing the need for a quality control system in screening programs.

CONCLUSIONS

The European Consensus Statement on Hearing Screening of Pre-school and School-age Children will encourage the appropriate authorities of the various countries involved to initiate hearing screening programs of pre-school and school-age children.

Assessing speech perception in young children and relationships with language skills

Few materials are available to assess speech perceptual skills in young children without hearing impairments. However, children with a range of developmental conditions are at risk of speech discrimination deficits. Tasks that reliably assess speech perception skills are thus necessary for research and clinical practice. The development and application of two speech perception tests are described. Data were collected from 105 children, aged 4-5 years, attending mainstream schools, on two tasks, mispronunciation detection and non-word XAB, in quiet and in a background of multi-talker babble. Children's receptive language skills were also measured. Performance on mispronunciation detection was significantly better than on the XAB non-word task, and significantly better in quiet than in babble. Performance significantly improved with age, and speech discrimination was significantly related to receptive language abilities. Scores obtained in quiet and in babble were highly correlated and findings suggest there may be no advantage to testing in noise, except to avoid ceiling effects on performance. These tasks prove useful in the assessment of young children who may have speech discrimination deficits.