Universal screening program and early intervention (USPEI) in congenital bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in Chile

Albertz, N; Cardemil, F; Rahal, M.; Mansilla, F; Cárdenas, R.; Zitko P.

Abstract

Congenital hearing loss is the total or partial inability to hear sounds through the ears. It is the most common disability in newborns in Chile and worldwide, and is a permanent condition. The direct impact on children who are not adequately diagnosed is the alteration in acquisition of language and cognitive skills and a decline in their social and school insertion, jeopardizing their professional and potentially productive life. Universal screening programs for hearing loss are essential for the diagnosis, since 50% of infants with hearing loss have no known risk factor. Screening before one month of age, confirmation before 3 months, and effective intervention before 6 months, allows the development of these children as if they had normal hearing. In Chile there is a selective program of screening for infants aged less than 32 weeks or 1,500 grams, as part of Explicit Health Guarantees, but it covers only 0.9% of newborns per year. Therefore, a large majority of children remain without diagnosis. The aim of this review is to compare the situation in Chile with other countries, raising the need to move towards a universal neonatal hearing loss screening program, and propose necessary conditions in terms of justification and implementation of a universal screening public policy.

Más información

Título según WOS: Universal screening program and early intervention (USPEI) in congenital bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in Chile
Título de la Revista: REVISTA MEDICA DE CHILE
Volumen: 141
Número: 8
Editorial: SOC MEDICA SANTIAGO
Fecha de publicación: 2013
Página de inicio: 1057
Página final: 1063
Idioma: Spanish
Notas: ISI