ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the key definitions and principles of screening, before proceeding to review evidence on the epidemiology of permanent childhood hearing impairment. It summarizes the case for newborn screening and the current performance of the newborn hearing screening programme in England. The chapter discusses the need for surveillance in the preschool years is reviewed and the school entry screen. Numerous studies agree that around half of all affected infants have no risk factors at birth and thus would be missed by even the best-performing high-risk newborn hearing screening. The term congenital is used to denote hearing impairment that is present at, or very soon after, birth. Permanent childhood hearing impairment includes hearing impairment that results from a structural abnormality in the outer ear, middle ear as well as sensorineural hearing loss. Some aspects of audiological assessment are easier in the first few months of life: for example, electrophysiological tests such as the auditory brainstem response.
