Risk factors and hearing outcomes in infants and young children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

South African Journal of Communication Disorders

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Risk factors and hearing outcomes in infants and young children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
 
Creator Khan, Nasim B. Joseph, Lavanithum
 
Subject — high risk factors; risk based screening; hearing outcomes; contextual relevance; early hearing detection and intervention; targeted hearing screening
Description Background: Targeted new-born hearing screening, based on high risk factors is recommended in the absence of universal new-born hearing screening in resource-constrained settings. The relevance of risk factors listed in the guidelines of high-income countries and used by low-middle income countries remains relatively unknown. Risk factors consistent with the epidemiological profile, evolution of risks and disease burden in these countries need to be considered.Objectives: This study aimed to profile the frequency of risk factors and their manifestation in hearing outcomes of young children in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.Method: A chart review of N = 1433 patients’ archival audiology records was conducted, conveniently sampled from a single tertiary hospital (n = 351), a provincial assessment and therapy centre (n = 649), a university clinic (n = 291), and two schools for the deaf (n = 142).Results: Overall, 56% of the participants presented with either a conductive, sensorineural or a mixed hearing loss; 62% of the children had between 1 and 2 risk factors present (Mean [M] = 1.1; standard deviation [s.d.] = 0.98). Admission to neonatal intensive care unit, maternal infections, bacterial and viral infections and chemotherapy, from the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing list of high risk factors were significantly associated with hearing loss (p  0.05). Known non-JCIH risks, emerging risks and other statistically significant contextually relevant risk factors were also noted.Conclusion: Understanding the profile of high risk factors in a given context has implications for prevention, early hearing identification and intervention services.Contribution: Targeted new-born hearing screening needs to be based on risk factors that are contextually relevant. This study is one of the first profiling high risk factors for hearing loss in children in KZN, the province with the second highest population in South Africa.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-08-12
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajcd.v71i1.1031
 
Source South African Journal of Communication Disorders; Vol 71, No 1 (2024); 11 pages 2225-4765 0379-8046
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/1031/2270 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/1031/2271 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/1031/2272 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/1031/2273
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Nasim B. Khan, Lavanithum Joseph https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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