D. C. McCann|Sarah Worsfold|Catherine Law|Mark Mullee|Stavros Petrou|Jim Stevenson|Ho Ming Yuen|Colin Kennedy
Reading and communication skills after universal newborn screening for permanent childhood hearing impairment
University of Southampton|Southampton General Hospital|University of Southampton|University College London|University of Southampton|University of Oxford|University of Southampton|University of Southampton|Southampton General Hospital
h3backgroundh3 birth periods universal newborn screening uns permanent childhood hearing impairment pchi early confirmation pchi associated superior subsequent language ability children pchi however effects reading communication skills addressed populationbased study h3methodsh3 followup study large birth cohort southern england measured reading direct assessment communication skills parent report 120 children bilateral moderate severe profound pchi aged 54117 years 61 born periods uns comparison group 63 children normal hearing h3resultsh3 compared birth periods without uns birth periods uns associated better reading scores intergroup difference 039 sds 95 ci 002 076 p 0042 communication skills scores difference 051 sds 95 ci 006 095 p 0026 compared later confirmation confirmation pchi age 9 months also associated better reading difference 051 sds 95 ci 015 087 p 0006 communication skills difference 056 sds 95 ci 012 100 p 0013 children pchi reading communication language ability highly correlated r 062084 plt0001 h3conclusionh3 birth periods uns early confirmation pchi predict better reading communication abilities primary school age benefits represent functional gains sufficient magnitude important children pchi