PURPOSE: To present the results of an implantation process of a neonatal hearing health program in public services and to review determinant aspects on its planning, effectiveness, maintenance and improvement. METHODS: In order to aid the implementation of new services, factors such as team qualification, test environment (noise and subject), false-negative, evasion and evaluation time were assessed in a cross-sectional study which included the hearing screening of all newborns in two public maternity hospitals, through otoacoustic emissions. RESULTS: Out of 4951 newborns in the period from 2002 to 2005, 3364 (67.9%) were assessed; 425 (12.61%) had risk indicators for hearing impairment. Hearing loss was confirmed in seven newborns (0.3%) through the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential. CONCLUSIONS: The need for protocols with well defined "pass and fail" criterion for each target population was verified. Hearing screening should be carried out within 30 days following birth and should not be limited to maternity hospitals. Team training and supervision is crucial, as well as electronic appointment and monitoring system, in order to decrease evasion and to detect late hearing loss, associating screening programs with the responsibility of diagnostic confirmation and intervention. This way, one will be able to measure hearing deficiency in Brazil and compare it with epidemiological profiles of countries where such programs have already outlined the hearing health of their population.
Neonatal screening; Infant; newborn; Mass screening; Otoacoustic emissions; spontaneous; Hearing loss; Hearing loss
