19th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 8-10, 2020 • Kansas City, MO
Pediatric Audiology Services Available by State: Are they Sufficient?
Purpose: Over the course of five years, data has been collected by the Early Hearing detection and Intervention-Pediatric Audiology Links (EHDI-PALS) system to create a database of audiology facilities around the United states capable of meeting basic requirements to serve as a pediatric audiologist for children birth-5 years. Using this data, we wanted to assess how well each state meets the need for pediatric audiologists based on geographical location, services available, and annual births to facility ratios.
DESIGN: Using survey information from clinicians located in 1232 audiology facilities throughout the United States and US territories, we analyzed which states had an adequate number of pediatric audiology centers per the number of annual births for the state, the percentage of facilities offering adequate diagnostic testing per state, and an approximate number of children evaluated and diagnosed in each state.
Results: From our analysis of the EHDI-PALS data, we have found that on average most states have less than 1 facility for every 2000 babies born annually, on average, less than 70% of facilities offer Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) testing, and the majority of facilities meet the standard for Otoacoustic Emission (OAE), tympanometry, reflex, and audiometry testing.
Conclusions: Our data analysis leads us to conclude there are areas of improvement for many states to bring their facilities into better compliance with the ASHA and Joint Committee on Infant Hearing Screening standards. Furthermore, in order to meet the needs of each state population, more facilities with the capability to treat children birth-5 years are needed in certain areas.
- Is the need for pediatric audiologists being met in certain geographical locations?
- Are the pediatric audiology services offered by clinics in each state satisfactory for diagnostic testing?
- Are there enough pediatric audiology facilities in each state in relation to the number of babies born annually?
Poster:
21060_12864EmileeMertens.pdf
Presenter: Emilee Mertens
Emilee is a second year Audiology doctoral student at Utah State University. She was inspired to pursue her education in Audiology after going on an ASL mission in the Portland area during which she learned about the importance of access to communication and Early Hearing detection and intervention. She hopes to be able to make a valuable contribution to the field in her future career. In her free time, Emilee enjoys spending time outside, crafting, and going on walks with her husband. She dreams of one day visiting all the National Parks and to see her grandparent’s hometowns in Germany.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.