[Arguments in favor of hearing loss screening programs]. / Argumentos en favor de programas de screening de hipoacusia.

In recent years criteria for the cochlear implant candidacy have been widened to childhood, therefore we are compelled to look for the earlier possible diagnosis of deafness. With this aim the AA. have reviewed the diagnostic process of hearing loss made during the last two decades and, consequently, be aware of the problems and planning solutions to avoid unnecesary delays in the treatment.

[The delay of the diagnosis of deafness in children. Justification for the establishment of screening models]. / Retraso en el diagnóstico de hipoacusia en niños. Justificación para instaurar modelos de cribaje.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess the capacity of our system of primary care to diagnose hearing loss in children in order to prevent isolation behaviors and obtain their acceptable insertion into our society. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A review of 78 cases of children, between 0 and 14 years of age, with hearing loss and followed in our Audiology Department was made. The age in which the diagnosis was made, presence of risk markers for deafness, records and motive of consultation were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age at diagnosis was 21 months. Although there were risk markers in 45 children (57%), screening tests, mainly brainstem auditory evoked potentials, were performed in only 7. Moreover, the main motive for consultation was the lack of response to sound stimuli as observed by the parents, and not the presence of any risk marker. CONCLUSIONS: Better information for parents and tutors and a greater conscientiousness of clinicians towards the possibility of deafness in children, especially in risk populations, would reduce the age at which the deficit is detected. The availability of brainstem auditory evoked potential tests in primary care centers will allow the diagnosis to be made in most children before 12 months of age.