Abstract
Introduction: Pediatric hearing loss, as well as other diseases, is screenable in newborns. In Brazil, its incidence is 30:10,000 live births. Risk indicators for hearing loss include infectious diseases, which have been a major concern in primary healthcare in recent years. Objective: To verify associations between infectious diseases and neonatal hearing screening (NHS) failures, as well as adjustments to other confounding sociodemographic variables. Methods: Retrospective study in newborns submitted to NHS at public maternity hospitals in greater Florianópolis, Brazil, between January 2017 and December 2021, using primary healthcare data from the Brazilian Public Health Network. Raw and adjusted odds ratio (OR) were estimated with MedCalc® software, v. 20.027. Logistic regression analysis, raw OR calculations, Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel OR calculations, and chi-square test were conducted to estimate associations between congenital syphilis and NHS failure, both including and excluding the confounding variables. Results: Altogether, 34,801 newborns participated in the research, of whom 1.13% (392) failed the NHS. Most mothers were 20 to 29 years old (53.18%), and infectious diseases were present in 956 newborns (2.75%). The OR for NHS failure in patients with congenital syphilis was 4.50 (95% CI: 3.25-6.24) before adjustments, and 4.73 (95% CI: 3.02-7.41) after adjustments for the year of birth, age, ICU stay, and prematurity. The Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel OR remained high after adjustments for these variables, resulting respectively in 4.39 (3.15-6.10), 4.17 (2.96-5.87), 4.59 (3.31-6.37), and 4.73 (3.41-6.55). Conclusion: Infectious diseases were associated with NHS failure. Prenatal care, NHS, and puerperium should be given greater importance so these two conditions can be both prevented and detected in newborns.
Keywords
Hearing, Risk Index, Infant. Newborn, Hearing Loss, Neonatal Screening, Unified Health System, Public Health.