Newborn hearing screening may predict sudden infant death syndrome

Abstract

Newborn hearing screening has seen tremendous growth in developed countries worldwide, having become the standard of public healthcare, with countries like the USA and UK screening nearly all newborns. Whilst the costs of universal screening for congenital or early onset hearing loss are significant they are offset by the tremendous gains afforded by early intervention in this common (2–6/1000) infant condition.¹ Infants identified with hearing loss and receiving intervention within the first year of life are able to develop within the range of their normal hearing peers in critical areas of language, speech, cognition and education in stark contrast to late-identified children.²