Hearing screening of school children in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland

Introduction Hearing screening is an important part of prevention. It allows early detection of hearing disorders, thus the treatment may begin early, and eliminates or minimises negative consequences. Children with hearing impairment often experience delayed speech development and cognitive abilities, which can result in learning disabilities and reduce school progress. Since 1999, the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing in Poland has provided a hearing screening program for school-age children in the country. The main aim of the program is the early detection of hearing disorders in children starting school, and increase in the awareness among parents of hearing problems. Materials and Methods Pure-tone air-conduction hearing thresholds were obtained at 0.5–8 kHz. The results of the hearing screening examination were regarded as positive if pure-tone thresholds were higher than 20 dB HL in one or both ears at one or more of the test frequencies. The audiometric results were supplemented by questionnaires completed by the parents. There were 8,091 first-grade children from the Podkarpackie Voivodeship enrolled in the program. Results Based on the audiogram, screening showed that hearing impairment was found in 1618 children (20% of the examined children). Conclusion Our study yielded a large group of children with hearing problems. We recommend that hearing screening in primary schools should be a routine procedure within a general framework of preventive pediatric health care.