Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) is essential for early identification of congenital hearing loss to decrease the adverse effects of a child's speech and language development. Since 2021, Thailand has enforced newborn hearing screening, followed by the national health policy of the Ministry of Public Health....
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Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for most Western-practice audiologists, but the findings offer useful benchmarking data on newborn hearing screening program effectiveness in a middle-income country healthcare context.
Evaluating real-world newborn hearing screening outcomes in Thailand contributes important global data on early hearing detection program performance, which can inform policy improvements in similar healthcare settings.
- 01Study assessed universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) program outcomes at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital, Thailand.
- 02Published in BMC Health Services Research, a peer-reviewed health policy journal.
- 03Evaluated program performance within the framework of Thailand's national health screening policy.
- 04Findings provide data on referral rates, follow-up rates, and early identification of infant hearing loss.
- 05Results are relevant for health policy planners and audiology program managers in lower-resource settings.
Universal newborn hearing screening outcomes at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital are consistent with national health policy benchmarks.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42082987
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12913-026-14654-4.
- Journal
- BMC Health Services Research
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Newborns screened for hearing loss at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital, Thailand
- Intervention
- Universal newborn hearing screening program
Primary outcomes
Newborn hearing screening pass/refer rates; Diagnostic follow-up rates; Alignment with national health policy benchmarks