Universal Newborn Screening for Hearing Loss: Ideal vs. Reality and the Role of Otolaryngologists

In 1993 the National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement, Early Identification of Hearing Impairment in Infants and Young Children, recommended “universal screening for hearing impairment prior to three months of age.” However, the decision to invoke screening programs that include all newborns remains highly controversial, even though such programs now exist in at least 60 hospitals in 18 states. Unfortunately, otolaryngologists in the United States have not been actively involved in this ongoing debate, despite the role of those in our specialty as “gatekeepers” of hearing loss in patients of all ages. In relation to identification of hearing loss in the neonatal period, we have abrogated our responsibility to other health care professionals. Otolaryngologists, this is your “wake up call.”