Evidence Base

1. A Critical Review of the Role of Neonatal Hearing Screening in the Detection of Congenital Hearing Impairment

There are approximately 900 children born a year in the UK with significant permanent hearing impairment likely to affect their own and their family's quality of life. Before the introduction of the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) services would have missed about 400 of these children by 1½ years of age, and about 200 of these children by 3½ years of age. Hearing impaired children identified late are at risk of substantial delay in their acquistion of language and communication skills, with consequent longer-term risk to education achievement, mental health and quality of life.

The NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme would never have been commissioned and implemented in England without a great deal of research and scientific activity that proved that early detection of hearing impairment is feasible and cost effective.

Much of this research was brought together in the Health Technology Assessment 1997 report that provided the evidence base for, and led to the introduction of, universal newborn hearing screening in England.

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Links to other supporting information can be found on our academic and research page.

2. Screening Evidence and Practice Book

The Oxford University Press Public Health Skills text by Dr Angela Raffle and Sir Muir Gray on ‘Screening; Evidence and Practice' will soon be available freely on-line at Oxford Scholarship Online (OSO) in September 2009 www.oxfordscholarship.com

Book Abstract:

Muir Gray and Angela Raffle have been at the forefront of achieving improvements in UK screening over recent years, and they bring a wealth of experience to this non-technical introductory guide covering all aspects of screening. The first four chapters deal with concepts, methods and evidence, explaining what screening is and how it is evaluated. Chapters five to eight describe practical aspects, for example how to make policy, and how to deliver screening to a high standard. The book includes numerous examples and real-life case histories, a glossary to make medical terms accessible to all, and each chapter concludes with a summary and self-test questions. Reference is made to the UK National Health Service, a leader in screening, but the book is internationally relevant because the principles of good screening apply in any setting. The controversies, paradoxes, uncertainties, and ethical dilemmas of screening are explained in a balanced way.

3. Academic & Conference Papers (up to 2006)

NOTE THIS INFO IS NO LONGER UPDATED

Uus K, Bamford JM, Taylor R. (2006). An analysis of the costs of the national implementation of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening in England. Journal of Medical Screening, 13, 14-19. eScholarID:1d10950

Uus K, Bamford JM. (2006). Effectiveness of population-based newborn hearing screening in England: Ages of interventions and profile of cases. Pediatrics, 117, e887-893. eScholarID:1d10763

Crockett R, Wright A, Uus K, Bamford JM, Marteau T. (2006). Maternal anxiety following newborn hearing screening: the moderating role of knowledge. Journal of Medical Screening, 13, 20-25. eScholarID:1d11897

Grill E, Uus K, Hessel F, Davies LM, Taylor RS, Wasem J, Bamford JM. (2006). Neonatal hearing screening: modelling cost and effectiveness of hospital- and community-based screening. BMC Health Serv Res, 6( 1), eScholarID:1d12795

Young AM, McCracken WM, Tattersall HJ, Bamford JM. (2005). Interprofessional working in the context of newborn hearing screening: Education and Social Services Compare Challenges. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 19 (4), 386-395. eScholarID:1d12724

Uus K, Bamford JM. (2005). Maternal anxiety and satisfaction following infant hearing screening: a comparison of the health visitor distraction test and newborn hearing screening. Journal of Medical Screening, 12, 78-82. eScholarID:1d10235

Uus K, Bamford JM, Young AM, McCracken WM. (2005). Readiness of paediatric audiology services for newborn hearing screening: findings and implications from the programme in England. International Journal of Audiology, 44, 712-720. eScholarID:1d8501

Bamford, JM, Ankjell, H, Crockett, R, Marteau, T, McCracken, WM, Parker, DJ, Tattersall, HJ, Taylor, R, Uus, K, Young, AM. (2005). Report of the Evaluation of the First Phase of the Implementation of the NHSP. eScholarID:5d139

Bamford JM, Uus K, Davis AC. (2005). Screening for hearing loss in childhood: issues, evidence and current approaches in the UK. J Med Screen, 12( 3), 119-24. eScholarID:1d11599

McCracken WM, Young AM, Tattersall HJ, Uus K, Bamford JM. (2005). The impact of the National Newborn Hearing Screening Programme on Educational Services in England. Deafness and Education International, 7 (4), 179-194. eScholarID:1d13197

Crockett, R., Baker, H., Uus, K., Bamford, J. and Marteau, T. (2005). 'Maternal anxiety and satisfaction following infant hearing screening: a comparison of the health visitor distraction test and newborn hearing screening'. Journal of Medical Screening, Vol 12, No 2, June 2005, pp. 78-82

Positive support in the lives of deaf children and their families
Details of a pioneering study which is set to help support the development of deaf children identified by the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP).

Uus, K., Bamford, J., Young, A. and McCracken, W. (2005). 'Readiness of paediatric audiology services for newborn hearing screening: findings and implications from the programme in England'. International Journal of Audiology, Vol 44, No 12, Dec 2005, pp. 712-720

Bamford, J., Uus, K. and Davis, A. (2005). 'Screening for hearing loss in childhood: issues, evidence and current approaches in the UK'. Journal of Medical Screening, Vol 12, No 3, Sep 2005, pp. 119-124

Poulakis, Z., Barker, M. and Wake, M. (2003). 'Six month impact of false positives in an Australian infant hearing screening programme'. Archives of Disease in Childhood, Jan 2003, 88, pp. 20-24

Moorjani, P. and Fortnum, H. (2004). 'Dissemination of information to General Practitioners: a questionnaire survey'. BMC Family Practice 2004, 5:27

Beyond Early Hearing Detection and Intervention: Infant Hearing in Science and in Clinical practice. The 2004 International Conference on Newborn Hearing Screening, Diagnosis and Intervention

Mehl, AL. (2002). 'The Colorado newborn hearing screening project, 1992-1999: on the threshold of effective population-based universal newborn hearing screening'. Pediatrics, Jan 2002, p. 109

Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (2002). 'Developmental outcomes of children with hearing loss born in Colorado hospitals with and without universal newborn hearing screening programs'. Seminars in Neonatology, Dec 2001, 6, pp. 521-9

Fortnum H, Summerfield A, Marshall D, Davis AC, Bamford JM. (2001). Prevalence of permanent childhood hearing impairment in the United Kingdom and implications for universal neonatal hearing screening: questionnaire based ascertainment study. BMJ, 323( 7312), 536-40. eScholarID:

Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (1999). 'Benefits of early intervention for children with hearing loss'. Otolaryngologic clinics of North America, Dec 1999, 32(6), pp. 1089-102

Yoshinaga-Itano, C., Sedey, AL., Coulter, DK. and Mehl, AL. (1998). 'Language of Early- and Later-identified Children With Hearing Loss'. Pediatrics, Vol 102, No 5, Nov 1998, pp. 1161-1171

Stevens, JC, Hall, DBM, Davis A., Davies, CM. and Dixon, S. (1998). The costs of early hearing screening in England and Wales'. Archives of Disease in Childhood, Jan 1998, 78, pp. 14-19

The European Consensus statement on Neonatal Hearing Screening
Finalised at the European Consensus Development Conference on Neonatal Hearing Screening, 15-16 May 1998, Milan.

Mehl, AL and Thomson, V. (1998). 'Newborn Hearing Screening: The Great Omission'. Pediatrics, Vol 101, No 1, Jan 1998, p. e4