Pediatrics

IntroductionNewborn hearing screening has a high participation rate of approximately 97% of infants nationally, but a high lost to follow-up of approximately 32% limits effectiveness of the program. This study tested an intervention of targeted outpatient rescreening of infants through collaboration with the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program to improve follow-up rates for newborn hearing screen (NHS) failures.MethodsControlled intervention study of WIC-eligible infants who failed NHS at target hospitals. Hearing rescreens were performed using screening auditory brainstem response testing by trained research assistants, coordinated with the infant\u2019s WIC appointment. Loss to follow-up rates and age at follow-up were compared with non-WIC infants tracked via the Ohio Department of Health during the same time periods at the same hospitals and at non-intervention hospitals.ResultsDuring a 2-year period, there were 1,493 hearing screen referrals at 6 hospitals in the Cincinnati region recorded by the Ohio Department of Health. Of these, 260 WIC-eligible infants were referred to the study. Among WIC-eligible intervention infants, the lost to follow-up rate over 2 years was 9.6%, compared to 28.7% for non-intervention infants in the same hospitals and 18.1% for non-intervention hospitals. The average age of hearing confirmation for the WIC intervention group was 34.8 days, compared to 63.6 days in non-WIC infants. One-third of mothers reported barriers to follow-up.ConclusionsCollaborating with WIC to provide targeted follow-up for newborn hearing screening improved loss to follow-up rates, decreased the age at hearing confirmation by one month, and addressed reported care barriers.20162017-07-01T00:00:00ZU01 DD001007/DD/NCBDD CDC HHS/United States27307144PMC4925076689