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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'Hearing Screening in the NICU: Current Status and Future Needs'
Track: 1-EHDI Program Enhancement
Audience: Primary Audience: Audiologist
Secondary Audience: State Health Department
Tertiary Audeince:
Keyword(s): hearing screening, NICU, JCIH 2007
Learning Objectives: 1) identify the JCIH 2007 recommendations for hearing screening in the NICU 2) describe national trends in NICU screening policies and protocols 3) recognize improvements needed in NICU hearing screening procedures

Abstract:

Infants whose birth history necessitates hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are known to be at increased risk for sensorineural hearing loss, including both cochlear impairment and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). Although hearing screening has been conducted in the NICU for many years there has not been specific recommendations regarding hearing screening in the NICU until recently. In 2007 the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) recommended separate protocols for screening in the well baby and NICU nurseries. Specifically, it was recommended that infants requiring hospitalization in the NICU for more than five days be screened with ABR only, and that infants who do not pass an initial ABR screening be referred to an audiologist. It was also recommended that infants readmitted for a condition that could increase their risk of sensorineural hearing loss, be re-screened prior to discharge. In this presentation we will review the JCIH 2007 recommendations for NICU screening and we will report the results of a 2009 national survey of EHDI program managers on NICU hearing screening practices. In addition to reporting current procedures and protocols we will review obstacles to successful screening/follow-up and specific recommendations for improvement. The results of this study will be compared to the findings of a similar survey conducted by the authors and presented at the 2005 EHDI conference.
Presentation(s): Not Available
Handouts: Not Available
SPEAKER INFORMATION
PRESENTER(S):
Shana Jacobs - UNC - Chapel Hill
     Credentials: AuD, CCCA
     Other Affiliations: ASHA, AAA
      Shana Jacobs, AuD, earned her doctorate in audiology at UNC in 2008. She is now a research audiologist at UNC on an NIH-funded investigation of outcomes in children with mild-severe hearing loss.
 
AUTHOR(S):
Karl White - Utah State University
     Credentials: PhD
      BIO: Dr. White is a Professor of Psychology, the Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Education, and the founding Director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management. He has been the PI or Co-PI for over $50 million of competitively awarded research. His work has been recognized with awards from such diverse organizations as the Deafness Research Foundation, the American Association for Speech Language and Hearing, The Swedish Society of Medicine, and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. He has hundreds of publications and presentations at scholarly meetings, and has been an invited speaker to more than 35 countries. He also serves on many national and international advisory groups for organizations such as the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Jackson Roush - University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
     Credentials: PhD, CCCA
     Other Affiliations: AAA, ASHA, AGB, AAS
      BIO: Dr. Roush is Professor and Director of the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC. He also serves as Director of the North Carolina LEND program and is co-chair of the NC EHDI Advisory Board.
Karen Munoz - Utah State University
     Credentials: Associate Professor
     Other Affiliations: NCHAM
      BIO: Karen Muñoz is an associate professor of audiology at Utah State University in the Department of Communicative Disorders and associate director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management. Her research focus is in the area of childhood hearing loss.