Missouri Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
In the United States, between 1 and 3 children out of every 1,000 are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. Children affected by hearing loss may struggle to reach developmental milestones, particularly with speech, language and social skills. For this reason the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) established the 1-3-6 Benchmarks.
1-3-6 Benchmarks
1-Hearing Screening to occur within one month after birth.
3-Diagnostic Testing after a failed screening to occur by the time the child is three months old.
6-Intervention program initiated before the child is six months old when diagnosed with hearing loss.
Loss-to-Follow-Up (LTF) statistics report on occurrent births that missed a given benchmark, usually due to parents being contacted but unresponsive or the program being unable to contact the family. There are additional reasons why a benchmark might be missed, but these are not counted as LTF.
Identifying trends, successes and areas for continued improvement of newborn hearing screening.