Medical Referral Patterns and Etiologies for Children With Mild-to-Severe Hearing Loss

Abstract

Objectives: 1) Identify the etiologies and risk factors of the patient cohort and determine the degree to which they reflected the incidence for children with hearing loss and 2) quantify practice management patterns in three catchment areas of the United States with available centers of excellence in pediatric hearing loss Design: Medical information for 307 children with bilateral, mild to severe hearing loss was examined retrospectively. Children were participants in the Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss (OCHL) study, a five-year longitudinal study that recruited subjects at three different sites. Children aged 6 months to 7 years at time of OCHL enrollment were participants in this study. Children with cochlear implants, children with severe or profound hearing loss, and children with significant cognitive or motor delays were excluded from the OCHL study and, by extension, from this analysis. Medical information was gathered using medical records and participant intake forms, the latter reflecting a caregiver's report. A comparison group included 134 children with normal hearing. A chi-square test on two-way tables was used to assess for differences in referral patterns by site for the children who are hard of hearing (CHH). Linear regression was performed on gestational age and birth weight as continuous variables. Risk factors were assessed using ttests. The alpha value was set at p < 0.05.Results: Neonatal intensive care unit stay, mechanical ventilation, oxygen requirement, aminoglycoside exposure, and family history were correlated with hearing loss. For this study cohort, congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV), strep positivity, bacterial meningitis, extracorporeal

Aminoglycoside- and glycopeptide-induced ototoxicity in children: a systematic review

“…Cross-sectional aetiology studies were performed in healthy children 57 and children with hearing loss. 55 , 56 Amikacin, 32 , 35 , 42–46 , 48 , 50 , 53 gentamicin, 28–30 , 34–36 , 41–43 , 48 , 50 , 52 , 55 , 56 streptomycin 39 , 46 , 51 , 57 and tobramycin 31 , 33 , 35 , 41–43 , 50 were the most frequently administered aminoglycosides, whereas vancomycin was the only administered glycopeptide antibiotic ( Figure 3 ). 38 , 41 Treatment dosages ranged between 4.5–8.0 mg/kg/day for gentamicin, 15–22.5 mg/kg/day for amikacin, 9.3–10.0 mg/kg/day for tobramycin, 8.0 mg/kg/day for netilmicin and 15 mg/kg/day for streptomycin.…”

Selected Disorders of the Ear, Nose, and Throat

“…Pediatric hearing loss is one of the most common sensory birth condition abnormalities in the United States affecting 1 to 3 per 1000 newborns [6][7][8]. Early detection of hearing loss before the age of 6 months is essential to prevent delays in language and other developmental milestones [7].…”

“…Early detection of hearing loss before the age of 6 months is essential to prevent delays in language and other developmental milestones [7]. Although children with hearing loss often have complex needs, the consequences are treatable if hearing loss is detected and treated early in life [6].…”

“…Hearing loss may also develop later in childhood. Additional risk factors of childhood hearing loss include family history of childhood hearing loss, history of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit for greater than 5 days, history of mechanical ventilation/oxygenation requirement, craniofacial anomalies, infections associated with late onset hearing loss, head trauma, chemotherapy, recurrent otitis media, and caregiver concern [6,7].…”

Service Provision for Children Who Are Hard of Hearing at Preschool and Elementary School Ages

“…A description of the etiologies of the children's HLs is beyond the scope of this article. However, a manuscript (Judge et al, 2018) that describes etiologies of approximately one third of the CHH who participated in the outcomes study has been submitted for publication.…”