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Abstract
Objective: To investigate the variance in reported prevalence rates of permanent neonatal hearing impairment (HI) worldwide.
Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed on reported prevalence rates of sensorineural and permanent conductive or mixed HI worse than 40 dB in neonates, detected as a result of a screening programme or audiometric study.
Study sample: For meta-analysis, 35 articles were selected, 25 from high-income countries and 10 from middle-income countries according to the world bank classification system.
Results: The prevalence rate of permanent uni- and bilateral HI worse than 40 dB in neonates varied from 1 to 6 per 1000, the overall prevalence was 2.21 per 1000 [1.71, 2.8]. In NICU populations the prevalence rate was higher with a larger fraction of bilateral cases. Although not significant, prevalence rates were slightly higher in Asia compared to Europe and the number of infants lost to follow-up appeared higher in countries with lower gross national income.
Conclusion: Substantial variations exist in prevalence rates of neonatal permanent HI across countries and regions. There is a strong need for more data from low-income countries to identify demographic factors that account for this variability in reported prevalence rates. Reporting these data in a uniform way is advocated.
Acknowledgments
We thank Wichor Bramer from the Medical Library of the Erasmus Medical Center for his help in designing and conducting the search strategy. This study sponsor had no role in the study design, or the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data or in the writing of the report or in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Disclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.
Author contributions
Andrea Bussé conceptualised and designed the study, was involved in the selection and analysis of the included articles, drafted the initial manuscript, reviewed and revised the manuscript. Hans Hoeve conceptualised and designed the study, was involved in the selection and analysis of the included articles, drafted the initial manuscript, reviewed and revised the manuscript. Kazem Nasserinejad performed the statistical analysis. Allison Mackey was involved in the selection and analysis of the included articles. André Goedegebure conceptualised and designed the study, was involved in the selection and analysis of the included articles, drafted the initial manuscript, reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors critically revised the manuscript, approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.