Disparities in Newborn Hearing Screening Outcomes in the United States From 2007 to 2017

Abstract Objective Establishing timely language intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing is crucial for their cognitive and language development. Newborn hearing screening (NBHS) programs are now commonplace, but disparities in receipt of support may exist. This study seeks to investigate if states with more diverse populations, less educated mothers, fewer resources, and no legislative mandate of screening have lower rates of milestone completion. Study Design This is a cross‐sectional study. Setting Data describing screening, identification, and intervention rates from individual state NBHS programs were aggregated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2017. Methods Regression models were fitted to assess associations between these outcomes and state demographic and policy variables. Forest plots from meta‐analyses were used to obtain nationwide pooled estimates of the relative risk (RR) of maternal predictors from individual state data. Results State averages of maternal education level, age, and race/ethnicity were found to be significantly associated with various outcomes. The presence of program funding and legislative state mandate were associated with multiple improved outcomes. Meta‐analyses identified increased RRs for most outcomes based on maternal education less than high school, age 19 and below, and non‐White race/ethnicity. Conclusion There is evidence of disparities in access to and timing of screening, identification testing, and intervention by various demographic and policy factors at the state level. More research is needed to further explore these relationships and determine how to address existing disparities in order to provide more equitable care.