title: Ten-year quality assurance of the nationwide hearing screening programme in Dutch neonatal intensive care units.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate 10-year quality assurance of newborn hearing screening (NHS) in Dutch neonatal intensive care units (NICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  Results of the two-stage automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) screening and diagnostic examination in NICU graduates were centrally registered between October 1998 and December 2008. This registration facilitates screening, tracking and follow-up after abnormal screening results. Outcome measures are referral rates, prevalence rate of hearing loss and (trends of) coverage rates and timeliness of follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-two thousand one hundred and two infants have been screened. Referral rates were 9.2% at the first and 26.3% at the second stage. Hearing loss was diagnosed in 728 infants (2.2%). Coverage rates were 98.7% at the first, 92.1% at the second stage, 92.3% for the diagnostic examination and 97.9% for the complete programme. After correction for gestational age, 95.8% of the infants had their first AABR<1 month, 81.8% of the referred infants had their second AABR<6 weeks and 67.1% were diagnosed<3 months. There was a positive trend in referred infants that had their second AABR<6 weeks (p=0.004) as well as in infants diagnosed<3 months (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NHS in Dutch NICUs is effective. Timely identification of hearing loss is improving over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, TNO Quality of Life, Leiden, The Netherlands. paula.vandommelen@tno.nl
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Dommelen
authors.forename: H L M
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: van Straaten
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Verkerk
mesh_terms: D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D009426:Netherlands