Phanguphangu Mukovhe, Kgare Khomotjo, Ross Andrew J
Department of Family Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Department of Rehabilitative Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Fort Hare, East London, South Africa.
J Public Health Afr. 2025 Jan 27;16(1):777. doi: 10.4102/jphia.v16i1.777. eCollection 2025.
Newborn hearing screening is the most important step towards early intervention of congenital or early-onset hearing loss (HL) and has the potential to optimise patient outcomes. Yet, literature on the age of identification of this HL in South Africa (SA) is sparse.
To determine the age of identification of congenital HL from published studies in SA.
The study was conducted in SA.
This was a systematic review conducted during April 2024 - June 2024 across the following databases: PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science and Scopus. A random effects (RE) model meta-analysis was conducted using STATA version 18. Statistical tests conducted include meta-summary statistics and RE meta-analysis.
Ten studies, with a total of 1501 children, were included in this review. The computed Q-test of homogeneity was 5870.97 and the pooled mean age of identification was 30 months (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 19.3-41.3).
These findings show that congenital or early-onset HL in SA is identified later than the national and international standards, that is, < 1 month of age. These findings are important for future research, priority setting and implementation of strategies to reduce the burden and impact of HL. Future research investigating the barriers to early detection of HL in SA is recommended. Furthermore, the implementation of evidence-based interventions to lower the age of identification of congenital HL to enable its early detection and intervention in this age group is recommended.
This study highlights the need to strengthen preventative programmes for paediatric HL in SA.
新生儿听力筛查是先天性或早发性听力损失（HL）早期干预的最重要步骤，有可能优化患者预后。然而，关于南非先天性HL确诊年龄的文献却很少。
根据南非已发表的研究确定先天性HL的确诊年龄。
该研究在南非进行。
这是一项于2024年4月至2024年6月期间在以下数据库中进行的系统评价：PubMed、EBSCO、科学网和Scopus。使用STATA 18版本进行随机效应（RE）模型荟萃分析。所进行的统计检验包括荟萃总结统计和RE荟萃分析。
本评价纳入了10项研究，共1501名儿童。计算得出的同质性Q检验值为5870.97，汇总的确诊平均年龄为30个月（95%置信区间[CI]：19.3 - 41.3）。
这些研究结果表明，南非先天性或早发性HL的确诊时间晚于国家和国际标准，即小于1个月龄。这些结果对于未来研究、确定优先事项以及实施减轻HL负担和影响的策略具有重要意义。建议未来开展研究，调查南非HL早期检测的障碍。此外，建议实施循证干预措施，以降低先天性HL的确诊年龄，以便在该年龄组实现早期检测和干预。
本研究强调了加强南非小儿HL预防计划的必要性。
