How to diagnose congenital deafness in children as early as possible?

Congenital hearing loss is one of the common disabling diseases and has become a major public health issue of global concern. Among normal newborns, the incidence of bilateral congenital hearing loss is about 3‰, which is much higher than the incidence of phenylketonuria, hypothyroidism, etc., ranking first among the currently screenable birth defects. If we assume that there are 19 million people born every year in our country, there will be an average of about 50,000 new children with congenital hearing loss every year. If these children with congenital hearing loss cannot be detected early, it will be impossible to provide them with early diagnosis and early intervention services, and they may be disabled by hearing loss. Practices at home and abroad have proven that newborn hearing screening has significantly reduced the average age at which deafness is diagnosed in infants and young children, and is considered the most effective measure to reduce disability caused by congenital deafness.

How to diagnose congenital deafness in children as early as possible?

If you want to know as early as possible whether a newborn has congenital deafness, newborn hearing screening is extremely important. The so-called newborn hearing screening refers to the audiological testing performed on every newborn child during hospitalization. Based on the examination results, the subjects were divided into two groups: those who passed the screening and those who failed the screening. People who fail the screening are suspected of hearing impairment and must undergo further examination to ultimately determine whether there is actual hearing impairment, as well as the extent and nature of the hearing impairment.

Neonatal hearing screening is based on electrophysiological techniques such as otoacoustic emission, automatic auditory brainstem response and acoustic impedance, which is performed after the newborn is naturally sleeping or quiet after birth. Conduct objective, rapid and non-invasive examinations under normal conditions. Generally, the test can be completed in only 5 to 10 minutes. Newborns must undergo an initial hearing screening 48 hours after birth. Those who fail the initial screening will undergo a hearing reexamination around 42 days. Those who still fail the reexamination after 42 days will undergo a diagnostic hearing test around 3 months old. Children diagnosed with hearing impairment should promptly go to the hospital's specialist department for appropriate medical intervention.

If your baby is diagnosed with conductive deafness, you should consider active treatment. Theoretically, conductive hearing loss can be cured. If the deafness has lasted for a long time, language rehabilitation training should be started while treating the deafness. If you are diagnosed with sensorineural deafness, because there is currently no effective treatment, parents should generally consider rehabilitation treatment with a positive attitude. You can wear hearing aids or perform cochlear implants to help your baby hear normally. voice, and at the same time began speech rehabilitation training. To avoid or reduce the adverse effects of deafness on children.

  As the saying goes, "ten deaf and nine dumb", we must seize the critical period of deaf children's development and development in hearing, language, etc., intervene in them as early as possible, and minimize the impact of hearing impairment on children's intelligence, language, and behavior. The negative impact makes them return to the audio world and bravely explore the world.