EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
Final Hearing Outcomes after Diagnosis of Transient Conductive Hearing Loss
Transient conductive hearing loss (TCHL) is one of the diagnosed outcomes after an infant does not pass newborn hearing screening. When TCHL is diagnosed, objective audiological test evidence suggests that middle ear issues are the primary cause of decreased hearing, and that hearing levels should improve to normal once middle ear issues resolve. However, a paper published by Boone et al, 2005, suggested that 11% of TCHL cases in infants who fail newborn hearing screening may not return to normal once middle ear issues resolve, and may have underlying permanent hearing loss that would warrant referral to early intervention. Therefore, continued tracking and follow-up until middle ears are clear is important so that any underlying permanent conductive or sensorineural hearing loss is identified as soon as possible.
According to baseline Minnesota data, in 2012 only 30% of TCHL cases had a final outcome reported up to 2 years later. Additionally, of the final hearing outcomes reported from 2010 to 2012, 4% to 9% of Minnesota TCHL cases ultimately did have a final diagnosis of underlying permanent hearing loss reported. This prompted quality improvement projects in 2017 and 2018 to increase the completion and reporting of final hearing outcomes, after a birth screen “refer” result and diagnosis of transient conductive hearing loss. We will share what we learned about the most efficient way to track TCHL cases. We will review how active tracking helped us increase the completion and reporting of final hearing outcomes, and of underlying permanent hearing loss. We will also reflect on factors that may assist other state EHDI programs in expanding from this framework to develop and continue improving their own process for tracking TCHL.
- Attendees will be able to describe an effective working process for follow-up of infants with confirmed transient conductive hearing loss.
- Attendees will be able to compare the percentage of final hearing results identified with underlying permanent hearing loss in Minnesota data set, to published data.
- Attendees will be able to review various factors that may contribute to cases that still have unresolved outcome at >18 months of age, and use this to plan for improvements in their own clinic or state program.
Poster:
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Presenter: Kirsten Coverstone
Kirsten Coverstone is an audiologist with many years of service dedicated to early hearing detection and intervention. She grew up in southern Minnesota, earned her masters degree from the Univ. of Northern Iowa and her doctorate from Salus University. Kirsten has actively worked at the local state and national levels to promote universal newborn screening for hearing. As coordinator of the Lions Infant Hearing Program at the University of Minnesota she worked directly with hospitals to establish effective hearing screening programs and audiologists to confirm hearing loss. In addition, Kirsten implemented a statewide hearing instrument loaner program for infants and young children in Minnesota. She is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children and their families as the MDH EHDI Screening Program Coordinator.
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Melanie Wege is a board certified audiologist who joined the Minnesota EHDI Team after 17 years as a clinical audiologist with a primary interest in pediatric diagnosis and follow-up. Her focus with the Minnesota EHDI Team is to provide education, support, and ongoing quality system improvement strategies to all providers involved with infant hearing screening and follow-up through diagnosis.
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No relevant financial relationship exist.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Regina Marino is an Epidemiologist for the Newborn Screening Program at the Minnesota Department of Health. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in 2018. Before joining the Newborn Screening Program in 2020, Regina was a CSTE (Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists) Applied Epidemiology Fellow at the Minnesota Department of Health. She enjoys being a part of the Minnesota EHDI Program and using her epidemiology knowledge and skills to help improve newborns’ health outcomes.
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Mai Pa Vang is a Health Program Representative with Minnesota's Newborn Screening Program. She graduated from St. Catherine University with her Bachelor of Science in Public Health in 2014, and her Master of Science in Nursing in 2020. She has been working with newborn hearing screen since 2016 and enjoys being a part of the hearing screen follow-up process.
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