Neonatal hearing screening of newborns of mothers with Diabetic Mellitus and/or hypertension in pregnancy: a systematic literature review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the results of the Neonatal Hearing Screening (NHS) in neonates whose mothers presented hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus in their pregnancy. Methods: a systematic review of the literature, without restriction of year and language, guided by the PRISMA protocol, that was carried out through a search in the MEDLINE (PUBMED), LILACS (BVS), SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE and EMBASE databases, using neonatal screening AND hearing AND (hypertension OR diabetes mellitus) as descriptors. Studies that were duplicated or were unavailable were excluded. Results: 64 records were found, 5 being included for analysis. These articles had been published in the last 13 years, originated from different countries, and using a retrospective (cross-sectional, n=1, case-control, n=1) or prospective design (cross-sectional, n=1, case-control, n=1; cohort, n=1). The findings of the articles demonstrated differences regarding the presence of changes in the NHS outcomes of newborns whose mothers presented hypertension and/or diabetes during pregnancy. Conclusion: since the review showed contradictory results regarding changes in the NHS outcomes in the presence of mothers’ hypertension and/or diabetes during pregnancy, prospective cohort studies are needed, in different contexts, in order to isolate confounding factors for hearing loss and minimize measurement bias and selection.