Early identification and treatment of hearing impairments are essential for children's development. International guidelines recommend a stepwise approach to conduct hearing screening in newborns. However, while the majority of countries worldwide implemented universal newborn hearing screening, inconsistencies remain in procedures and data management....
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Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists and program managers running newborn hearing screening services should review Italy's five-year findings for benchmarking referral, follow-up loss-to-follow-up rates, and early intervention timelines, though local protocol changes depend on how results compare to their own program data.
Large multi-year national screening databases provide the real-world evidence base needed to refine universal newborn hearing screening protocols and reduce delays in early intervention globally.
- 01Five-year Italian database analysis evaluated newborn hearing screening (NHS) program performance.
- 02Focus was on early identification and treatment of pediatric hearing impairment.
- 03Study highlights both successes and persistent challenges within a national NHS program.
- 04Findings are relevant to benchmarking screening programs internationally.
- 05Published in a peer-reviewed journal (doi: 10.1186/s13052-026-02293-8).
Newborn hearing screening programs face ongoing challenges in early identification and follow-up of pediatric hearing impairment.
studysupported- PMID
- 42351255
- DOI
- 10.1186/s13052-026-02293-8.
- Journal
- Italian Journal of Pediatrics
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Newborns enrolled in a national hearing screening program in Italy over five years
- Intervention
- Newborn hearing screening program
Primary outcomes
Rate of early identification of pediatric hearing impairment; Challenges and gaps in screening program delivery