Meeting of time targets is an important quality criterion in the assessment and treatment of congenital hearing loss. The 1‑3‑6 guideline mandates assessment by the third month of life (MoL) and treatment by the sixth MoL. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to examine how well the Tyrolean Newborn Hearing Screening (NHS) program meets the recommended timelines for diagnostic assessment and intervention.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Clinicians and program administrators should audit local compliance with the 1-3-6 guideline for congenital hearing loss; delays in any stage directly harm language development outcomes.
Adherence to the 1-3-6 guideline is a global benchmark for early hearing detection and intervention programs, and regional compliance data highlight systemic gaps that can drive policy reform.
- 01Evaluated adherence to the 1-3-6 guideline (screen by 1 month, diagnose by 3, treat by 6) in Tyrol, Austria.
- 02Focus on congenital hearing loss detection and intervention timelines.
- 03Regional compliance data can expose bottlenecks in newborn hearing screening pathways.
- 04Delays beyond 6 months are associated with poorer language and developmental outcomes.
- 05Published in a peer-reviewed ENT/otolaryngology journal (HNO).
The 1-3-6 guideline timelines for congenital hearing loss screening and treatment are the recommended standard of care.
guidelinesupportedThe Tyrol region achieves (or fails to achieve) the 1-3-6 guideline timelines for congenital hearing loss.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42955317
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00106-026-01818-1.
- Journal
- HNO
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Infants with congenital hearing loss in the Tyrol region of Austria
- Intervention
- Newborn hearing screening and early intervention program adherence to 1-3-6 guideline
- Comparator
- Recommended 1-3-6 guideline benchmarks
Primary outcomes
Proportion of infants meeting each 1-3-6 guideline milestone