2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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10/27/2019 | 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM | How the World’s Children Hear: A Narrative Review of School Hearing Screening Programs Globally | Coconino and La Paz Rooms

How the World’s Children Hear: A Narrative Review of School Hearing Screening Programs Globally

Objective: Childhood hearing loss is a significant global health concern with serious downstream consequences. School hearing screening represents an important public health approach to mitigate the effects of childhood hearing loss. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of existing school hearing screening programs around the world, identify gaps in the literature, and develop priorities for future research. Methods: A structured review of the literature was carried out by reviewing three databases: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library. A total of 65 articles were included in the study. The range of studies analyzed were comprised of prospective/retrospective studies, cross-sectional analyses, guidelines, protocol reports, commentaries, and other grey literature. All studies were examined qualitatively. Findings: School hearing screening is mandated in very few regions worldwide, and where recommendations exist, there is little accountability regarding whether testing is performed. Screening protocols differ in terms of screening tests included and thresholds used. The most common protocols included a mix of pure tone audiometry (screening at 0.5 k, 1 k, 2 k, and 4 kHz), otoscopy, and tympanometry. Estimates of region-specific disease prevalence were found to be methodologically inaccurate, and the concept of re-screening children who were referred on initial screening was poorly addressed. There were also ubiquitous concerns regarding loss-to-follow-up. Conclusion: Current school hearing screening protocols vary widely, and many regions do not have published screening guidelines. In addition, estimates of true hearing loss prevalence are lacking, and projections of screening test sensitivity and specificity are unreliable. There is an urgent need for additional studies to address these gaps.

Understand what school hearing screening programs currently look like around the world
Examine the potential issues surrounding the lack of standardization of school hearing screening programs
Identify specific areas of future research necessary in the area of school hearing screening

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Presenters/Authors

Michael Yong (), University of British Columbia, mjcyong@gmail.com;
Michael Yong is a Resident Physician (Post-Graduate Year 4) in the Division of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of British Columbia. Under the support of the two-year Clinician Investigator Program research fellowship award from the University of British Columbia, he is currently studying at Johns Hopkins University as an MBA candidate with the Carey School of Business and an MPH candidate with the Bloomberg School of Public Health. His interests lie at the intersection of medicine, technology, business, and public health, where he is most drawn to addressing issues with healthcare efficiency using disruptive innovation. He is currently a research fellow working on a cost-effectiveness model of a hearing intervention in rural Alaska under Dr. Susan Emmett from Duke University, and a research fellow studying international hearing aid access at the Cochlear Centre of Aging and Hearing under Dr. Frank Lin at Johns Hopkins.