Author/Editor     Kekić, Branko; Marn, Borut
Title     Newborn hearing loss screening in Croatia
Type     članek
Source     Med Razgl
Vol. and No.     Letnik 43, št. Suppl 3
Publication year     2004
Volume     str. 93-7
Language     eng
Abstract     Congenital permanent hearing impairment is considered one of the most frequent congenital disorders with frequently delayed diagnosis and intervention, so an active approach of the health service is a prerequisite for the secondary prevention of this disorder. Universal (and not only high risk) newborn hearing screening has been widely accepted as a prerequisite of early diagnosis of congenital hearing impairment. The program was first initiated in Croatia at the beginning of February 2002, in a Zagreb maternity unit with about 3,000 newborns a year. The results were excellent and by the end of 2002, universal newborn hearing screening was started in all of 34 maternity units in Croatia. Modification of a two-staged, »bilocal« and »bimodal« model has been used for this purpose: stage I is performed at the maternity unit before discharge by registering automated transient evoked otoacoustic emission (A-OAE), and stage II at the same maternity unit or in an audiology department using the same method or by registering automated auditory brainstem response (A-ABR). Initial statistical results have shown that in a group of 3,070 newborns, 5.3% were positive either on one or both ears, necessitating the second stage of screening. The prevalence of a confirmed, significant bilateral permanent hearing impairment was 2.6/1,000.
Descriptors     HEARING DISORDERS
HEARING TESTS
AUDIOMETRY, EVOKED RESPONSE
INFANT, NEWBORN
CROATIA