Experience, Challenges and Outcome of Implementing Universal New Born Hearing Screening in a Medical College Hospital Set Up

In India, newborn hearing screening programs have been implemented as a part of research studies since early 1970s. Amongst the previously reported programs most are from the southern region and very few are from the west and the northern region of the country. There is a lack of evidence of such program in other region of the country. 1. To study the outcome, experience, and challenges faced during the implementation of the universal newborn hearing screening program in a medical college set up of Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 2. To determine the prevalence of hearing impairment with a two tier screening protocol with Otoacoustic emission and Auditory Brainstem Response. The Prospective Non randomised study was carried out between December 2017 and December 2019. A total of 1200 neonates delivered at the medical college, Raipur were screened using the two tier screening protocol. In our study, the prevalence of hearing loss was 2 per 1000 live births for bilateral hearing loss and 1 per 1000 live births for unilateral hearing loss. Implementing universal newborn screening in a vast country like India is a challenging task because of a high birth rate, diverse socio-economic and cultural background with limited resources. Though several hospitals and clinics have implemented the UNHS program, yet there is a dearth of literature regarding the program outcome, success, challenges, and lessons learnt. Therefore best practices of such evolved programs should be in public domain.