Misdiagnosis of Children With Hearing Loss

Benefits and challenges of newborn hearing screening for developing countries

“…Failure by physicians to investigate hearing loss suspected by parents often accounts for significant delays in diagnosis and intervention even with severe-to-profoundly deaf children [92]. In another report (which may be regarded as outdated for the developed world), misdiagnosis by health personnel accounted for delayed identification in almost 30% of cases, following initial diagnosis such as mental retardation, aphasia, minimal brain damage, and learning disability [93]. These reports incidentally reflect the predominant attitude by health workers to hearing impairment in infants and young children in the developing world [26].…”

Why Universal Newborn Hearing Screening

“…A survey of primary care physicians revealed that 40% thought that a reliable diagnosis was possible only after a child was 2 years old (Shah, Dale, 8c Chandler, 1977). Misdiagnosis by physicians accounted for delayed identification of deafness in up to 30% of cases in some older reported series, with the interim diagnosis including mental retardation, aphasia, emotional disturbance, minimal brain damage, and impaired learning ability (Hodgson, 1969). Many studies have reported refusal by family physicians to consider seriously the parents' observations of their children's hearing impairment (Shah et al, 1977;Shah, Chandler, 8c Dale, 1978).…”