A Review on New-Born Hearing Loss in Sub-Saharan Africa

An estimated two-thirds of people with hearing impairments reside in developing countries and this constitutes social and economic implications.Since the introduction ofscreening for early identification of hearing loss in new-born in hospitalised settings and community care centres across Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been an increase in the number of new-borns diagnosed with developmental delays and hearing loss. Screening in the region frequently applies alternative models such as community-based model and hospital-based model. Each of the models is comprised of different attributes such as resources involved, timeframe, setting, and the procedural elements. The effectiveness of both models relies of early detection as well as the awareness and participation of the parents or caregivers of the new-born, healthcare centres and practitioners.

Keywords: Parents’ perception; New-born screening; Hearing loss; Systematic literature review; Sub-Saharan Africa.