Iowa LEND Director Recognized for Newborn Hearing Screening Research

September 2, 2013

  http://aja.asha.org/

The 2012 Editor's Award for the American Journal of Audiology will go to a team of researchers led by Lenore Holte, PhD, CCC-A, Iowa LEND Director and Clinical Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Department of Pediatrics, The University of Iowa. 

A research team from the University of Iowa, Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha and the University of North Carolina investigated those factors that determine the success with which children who are hard-of-hearing receive timely follow-up after a failed newborn hearing screen. Of several predictor variables, only higher levels of maternal education were significantly associated with earlier confirmation of hearing loss and fitting of hearing aids; severity of hearing loss was not. Only one third of children met all of the benchmarks within the recommended time frame of diagnosis by 3 months and intervention by 6 months. The authors concluded that underserved communities need extra support in navigating steps that follow failed newborn hearing screening. This study was part of a larger NIH-funded multicenter study on the Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss.

An article selected for an Editors' Award is one that meets the highest quality standards in research design, presentation, and impact for a given year. The article can be accessed online at http://aja.asha.org/.

(Reference: Holte, L., Walker, E., Oleson, J., Spratford, M., Moeller, M. P., Roush, P., & Tomblin, J. B., Ou, H. (2012).  Factors influencing follow-up to Newborn Hearing Screening for infants who are hard-of-hearing. Am J Audiol 21,163-174.)

Those wishing further information about the study may contact Lenore Holte at [email protected].  To learn more about the ILEND program, visit www.uihealthcare.org/UCEDD/ILEND.