In recent years, great focus has been placed on the importance of early detection of hearing loss in children, from recommending screening in a population at risk to universal screening.
Hearing impairment in children meets all the requirements of diseases that are subject to collective testing for neonatal detection.
The top five should at least be listed:
- Frequency and severity of the disorder
- Early detection and intervention of the disorder, before it can be detected by clinical criteria, improve prognosis
- The detection techniques are sufficiently sensitive and specific, and there is a clear criterion to tell normal subjects from those suffering from the disorder.
- Disease intervention and treatment are effective and available
- The detection programme has an acceptable cost-benefit ratio and is applicable to 100% of the population, without putting the population being tested at risk.
For your bibliography: CODEPEH (Doménech et al.) (1999): “Proposal for the early detection and intervention of hearing loss in children”. FIAPAS Journal, November-December 1999, No. 71, Offprint.
©FIAPAS 1999