Department of Pediatrics, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, HS83, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
J Community Health. 2013 Jun;38(3):569-74. doi: 10.1007/s10900-013-9652-6.
The prevalence of hearing loss has increased among United States children. As schools commonly perform hearing screens, we sought to contrast current United States school-based hearing screening protocols. State department of health and education websites were reviewed to assess school hearing screening protocols for the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Individuals listed on these websites were contacted as necessary to confirm and/or acquire relevant data. School-based hearing screening is currently required in 34/51 (67 %) states. Of these 34 states, 28 (82 %) mandate grades for screening, but only 20 (59 %) require screening beyond 6th grade. Pure tone audiometry is the most common screening method (33/34 [97 %]). A majority of states screen at 1, 2 and 4 kHz usually at 20 or 25 dB hearing level. Six states recommend or require testing at 6 or 8 kHz, which is necessary to detect high-frequency hearing loss. The results indicate that United States school-based hearing screens vary significantly. They focus on low frequencies with few testing adolescents for whom high-frequency hearing loss has increased. Disparities in hearing loss detection are likely, particularly considering the evolution of hazardous noise exposures and rising prevalence of hearing loss.
美国儿童的听力损失患病率有所增加。由于学校通常会进行听力筛查，我们试图对比当前美国基于学校的听力筛查方案。我们查阅了州卫生和教育部的网站，以评估五十个州和哥伦比亚特区的学校听力筛查方案。如有必要，我们联系了这些网站上列出的人员，以确认和/或获取相关数据。目前，34/51（67%）个州要求在学校进行听力筛查。在这 34 个州中，28 个（82%）州规定了筛查年级，但只有 20 个（59%）州要求在 6 年级以后进行筛查。纯音测听是最常见的筛查方法（33/34 [97%]）。大多数州在 1、2 和 4 kHz 频率处筛查，通常在 20 或 25 dB 听力级。六个州建议或要求在 6 或 8 kHz 频率处测试，这是检测高频听力损失所必需的。结果表明，美国基于学校的听力筛查存在显著差异。它们主要关注低频，很少对青少年进行高频听力测试，而高频听力损失的发病率正在上升。听力损失检测的差异很可能存在，尤其是考虑到危险噪声暴露的演变和听力损失的患病率上升。
