What is it about?
Recommended follow-up testing for infants not passing the newborn hearing screening includes a full hearing test with auditory thresholds. This recommended testing is not always completed. After a review of data reported by state Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs, this study found that nearly 1 in 6 infants described as having typical (normal) hearing, did not receive a full hearing test. Without auditory threshold testing, minimal to mild hearing thresholds (loss) may be missed for these infants.
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Why is it important?
A missed diagnosis of deaf or hard of hearing (hearing loss) could negatively impact timely access to intervention services that prevent delays in speech and language development.
Perspectives
This article was one of the few manuscripts that was published using deidentified individual data collected from a cooperative agreement between jurisdictions and the CDC. Unfortunately, this work has been halted due to a reduction in staff at the CDC. Without studies like this using data collected at the CDC, we will no longer be able to measure nationally indicators for EHDI or ways to evaluate systemic barriers to follow up care for infants not passing the newborn hearing screening. I hope this article can shine a light on the importance of the work the CDC EHDI team was held accountable for.
Kelly Dundon
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Receipt of Audiological Threshold Testing Among Infants Not Passing Their Newborn Hearing Screen, Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, May 2025, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2025_persp-24-00295.
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