Dr Jane Sheehan1,2,3, Alison Jagger1,2,3, Kate L. Francis4,5, Dr S. Ghazaleh Dashti4,5, Patrick Gornall3,4, Mrs Melinda Barker1,2,3,4, Associate Professor Valerie Sung2,3,4, Dr Sergio Ruiz-Carmona6, Susan Baohm6, Dr Zeffie Poulakis1,2,3,4
1Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program, Centre for Community Child Health, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, 2Centre for Community Child Health, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, 3Prevention Innovation, Population Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Parkville, Australia, 4Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, 5Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Parkville, Australia, 6Centre for Health Analytics, Melbourne Children’s Campus, Parkville, Australia
Biography:
Dr Jane Sheehan is a Senior Project Officer with the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program (VIHSP) at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). Jane is a clinical psychologist and is involved in quality assurance, protocol development, stakeholder liaison, learning and improvement projects as well projects about parent experience of the hearing screening and diagnostic pathway. Jane has been a member of the VIHSP team for five years and is also part of the Hearing Research Team at RCH.
Abstract
Objective: Infections during pregnancy can increase the risk of congenital hearing loss. This population-based study investigated the effect of birth parent COVID-19 infection during pregnancy on risk of congenital hearing loss in infants.
Methods: Records of infants born in 2022 were reviewed via a retrospective clinical audit of a universal state-wide newborn hearing screening program in Victoria, Australia. The number and timing of COVID-19 infections during pregnancy were collected via self-report at the time of the hearing screen. Infant records (n = 75,330) were divided into birth parent infection group (n=25,547, 33.9%), and non-infection group (n = 49,783, 66.1%). Group differences in screen and diagnostic audiology results were estimated by general linear regression models with a binomial distribution.
Results: Birth parent and infant characteristics were similar across groups. Comparable proportions of infants obtained a refer result on their newborn hearing screen, requiring referral to diagnostic audiology (infection group: 1.4%, 95%CI 1.2-1.5 versus non-infection group: 1.3%, 95%CI 1.2-1.4). The proportion of infants diagnosed with any type of hearing loss was also similar (infection group: 0.6%, 95%CI 0.5-0.7 versus non-infection group: 0.6%, 95%CI 0.6-0.7).
Conclusion: Infants whose birth parent reported COVID-19 during pregnancy were not at increased risk of obtaining a refer result on their newborn hearing screen, nor at increased risk of congenital hearing loss. Specific protocols or guidelines to manage the newborn hearing screening pathway of infants born to a parent with COVID-19 during pregnancy are not supported by the study findings.