Etiology of newborn hearing impairment in Guangdong province: 10-year experience with screening, diagnosis, and follow-up

Background Hearing impairment is one of the most common birth defects in children. Universal newborn hearing screenings have been performed for 19 years in Guangdong province, China. A screening/diagnosis/intervention system has gradually been put in place. Over the past 10 years, a relatively complete data management system had been established. In the present study, an etiological analysis of newborn cases that failed the initial and follow-up screenings was performed. Methods The nature and degree of hearing impairment in newborns were confirmed by a set of procedures performed at the time of initial hearing screening, rescreening and final hearing diagnosis. Then, multiple examinations were performed to explore the associated etiology. Results Over a period of 10 years, 720 children were diagnosed with newborn hearing loss. Among these children, 445 (61.81%) children had a clearly identified cause, which included genetic factor(s) (30.56%), secretory otitis media (13.30%), maternal rubella virus infection during pregnancy (5.83%), inner ear malformations (4.86%), maternal human cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy (2.92%), malformation of the middle ear ossicular chain (2.50%) and auditory neuropathy (1.81%). In addition, 275 cases of sensorineural hearing loss of unknown etiology accounted for 38.19% of the children surveyed. Conclusions Long-term follow-up is needed to detect delayed hearing impairment and auditory development in children. The need for long-term follow-up should be taken into account when designing an intervention strategy. Furthermore, the use of the deafness gene chip should further elucidate the etiology of neonatal hearing impairment.