Overview of newborn hearing screening programs in Brazilian maternity hospitals

INTRODUCTION: Newborn hearing screening has as its main objective the early identification of hearing loss in newborns and infants. In order to guarantee good results, quality indicators for newborn hearing screening programs are used as benchmarks. OBJECTIVE: To observe and describe the reality of national newborn hearing screening programs in Brazil, and to evaluate if they can be referred to as having quality indicators. METHODS: Integrative literature review in databases such as MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO, and Google. RESULTS: 22 articles were analyzed in relation to newborn hearing screening coverage, the place and period newborn hearing screening was performed, initial results, referral to diagnostic procedures, loss to follow-up, and occurrence of hearing loss. CONCLUSION: Transient otoacoustic emissions were the most often used screening methodology. Coverage varied widely, and only a few maternity wards achieved 95% of the cases screened. Referral to diagnostic procedures was under 4%, but lack of adherence can be considered a barrier to successful follow-up. The occurrence of hearing loss ranged from 0% to 1.09%. The involvement of government, physicians, and society is necessary, so that the goals of newborn hearing screening can be achieved.