Kelly Nicholls1
1Healthy Hearing Program, CYCHS, Qld Health, Nundah, Australia
“Without data you’re just another person with an opinion” W. Edwards Deming
Each year, the Healthy Hearing Program (HHP) diagnoses babies with mild permanent hearing losses (MPHL), despite these hearing losses not being the “target condition” for newborn hearing screening programs. As there is limited evidence in the literature to indicate that early investigation, amplification, or intervention is beneficial for babies with mild hearing losses, there has always been questions around how to best manage these babies’ hearing losses.
Anecdotal feedback from HHP downward referral pathway services following diagnosis suggests a significant increase in the number of babies diagnosed with MPHL over the last few years, which has led to a higher volume of work placing pressure on Queensland Health (QH) systems and limited HHP resources.
In addition, there are a small proportion of babies diagnosed with MPHL each year that are found to have normal hearing at a later stage on behavioural testing. This is not unexpected given that ABR testing can only provide an estimate of the baby’s hearing thresholds, but again raises further questions around best management of these babies.
The initial aims of this project were to analyse data for babies diagnosed with MPHL to define cohort numbers and characteristics, and to quantify the number of babies who were determined to have normal hearing after the neonatal diagnostic phase had been completed. The overall goal of the project is to develop an agreed pathway with all service stakeholders for babies diagnosed with MPHL at birth, that is relevant, efficient, and valuable to both health professionals and families and ensures appropriate use of QH resources.
This presentation will discuss the project outcomes to date including data analysis and stakeholder feedback.
Biography:
Kelly Nicholls is the Advanced Audiologist working in the Healthy Hearing Program in Queensland. Kelly has held this role since 2014, with responsibilities including protocol development and review, clinical supervision and consultancy, and monitoring of the quality and safety of the audiology component of the newborn screening program. Kelly previously worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane for 15 years, gaining considerable experience in neonatal and infant diagnostic assessment and paediatric cochlear implantation.