Processo do diagnóstico audiológico de bebês após a falha na triagem auditiva neonatal

Abstract

Introduction: Early audiological diagnosis up to three months of age is essential for the child to be able to initiate early intervention and properly develop speech and language. However, this process brings several barriers that make the diagnosis difficult. Objective: To study the referral processes for the audiological diagnosis of children after the failure of the Neonatal Hearing Screening. Method: This is a quantitative, descriptive, observational study conducted at a Hearing Health Center. We analyzed data from 68 children who referes the NHS from maternity hospitals in São Paulo city, and referred to the service. The data analyzed refers to: region of residence, date of birth, risk indicators, date of retest at NHS, date of referral for diagnosis, date of diagnostic conclusion, diagnosis results, and children who were lost in the diagnostic process, reasons for the dropout the process. Results: 64.7% children live in the South Zone of São Paulo; 76.5% were present at the hering assessment appointment; 54.4% have one or more risk indicators, being permanence in NICU the most prevalent.; 50% completed the diagnosis, and 7.7% dropped out; 68.8% of them could not be reached by telephone; 65.4% of the children who completed diagnostic had some type of loss. Conclusion: The quality criteria of 70% of hearing assessment finished by 3 months of age was not achieved. Circumstantial factors are present at the diagnostic process, such as additional health problems, leading families to drop out the process. Contact via telephone calls proved to be inefficient. New strategies need to be taken to reduce the drop out of children who refered NHS. One of them includes better integration and communication between primary health units and hearing health centers