1. The impact of universal newborn hearing screening on long-term literacy outcomes: a prospective cohort study.
- Author
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Pimperton, Hannah, Blythe, Hazel, Kreppner, Jana, Mahon, Merle, Peacock, Janet L., Stevenson, Jim, Terlektsi, Emmanouela, Worsfold, Sarah, Ho Ming Yue, Kennedy, Colin R., and Yuen, Ho Ming
- Subjects
DEAFNESS in children ,HEARING impaired infants ,EDUCATION of mothers ,NON-Verbal Ability Tests ,NEWBORN infant health ,DIAGNOSIS ,HEARING disorder diagnosis ,AUDITORY perception testing ,HEARING disorders ,NEWBORN screening ,LONGITUDINAL method ,HEALTH outcome assessment ,READING ,PSYCHOLOGY - Abstract
Objective: To determine whether the benefits of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) seen at age 8 years persist through the second decade.Design: Prospective cohort study of a population sample of children with permanent childhood hearing impairment (PCHI) followed up for 17 years since birth in periods with (or without) UNHS.Setting: Birth cohort of 100 000 in southern England.Participants: 114 teenagers aged 13-19 years, 76 with PCHI and 38 with normal hearing. All had previously their reading assessed aged 6-10 years.Interventions: Birth in periods with and without UNHS; confirmation of PCHI before and after age 9 months.Main Outcome Measure: Reading comprehension ability. Regression modelling took account of severity of hearing loss, non-verbal ability, maternal education and main language.Results: Confirmation of PCHI by age 9 months was associated with significantly higher mean z-scores for reading comprehension (adjusted mean difference 1.17, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.97) although birth during periods with UNHS was not (adjusted mean difference 0.15, 95% CI -0.75 to 1.06). The gap between the reading comprehension z-scores of teenagers with early compared with late confirmed PCHI had widened at an adjusted mean rate of 0.06 per year (95% CI -0.02 to 0.13) during the 9.2-year mean interval since the previous assessment.Conclusions: The benefit to reading comprehension of confirmation of PCHI by age 9 months increases during the teenage years. This strengthens the case for UNHS programmes that lead to early confirmation of permanent hearing loss.Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN03307358. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2016
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