The Effectiveness of the School-Age Hearing Screening Program in Turkey and the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the hearing screening program in school-age children in Turkey, and to discuss alternative methods for children who cannot be screened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the scope of the school-age hearing screening program, children who fail the screening are referred to reference centers. The effectiveness of the screening program was investigated by recording the ear examinations and definitive audiometric examination results of the children who were referred to a tertiery-level center. Evaluations were made of a total of 87 children, comprising 49 boys (56.3%) and 38 girls (43.7%) with a mean age of 6.97 years, and no risk factors for hearing loss. The physical examination results showed that 53 children were normal, 15 had cerumen impaction, 3 otitis externa, 13 otitis media with effusion and 3 acute otitis media. The audiometric examination results were recorded as 72 normal, 13 conductive hearing loss, and 2 sensorineural hearing loss. Thus, the false positive rate of screening audiometry performed at school was 82.7%. School-age hearing screening is an important test to ensure the cognitive and academic development of children. Pure tone audiometry is indispensable in the evaluation of children who fail the test. For the evaluation of children who could not be tested for 1.5 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, alternative methods such as tele-audiometry may be utilized.