Trillium In The News

The Mississauga News

Hearing tests provide early warning signals

MIKE BEGGS
Feb 23, 2003

Hear, hear!

Mississauga's Trillium Health Centre has emerged as a leader in the province's initiative to test all newborns for hearing impairment.

Trillium has hired a team of nurses to administer this free, painless test, seven days a week. Between August 12, 2002 and year end, it had completed more than 1,200 screenings.

While the incidence is fairly low -- four in 1,000 babies -- undetected hearing loss is one of the primary causes of delayed language development, which often leads to behavioural and emotional problems, as well as struggles in school.

Traditionally, the average age of diagnosis has been 2.5 years, but with its Ontario Infant Hearing Program, the province aims to identify such conditions far earlier. And with its proactive program, Trillium can begin the habilitation process (through the use of hearing aids, communication programs with parents, work with speech pathologists, etc.) by six months of age.

Jane Gildner, systems manager, children's health, at Trillium Health Centre explains that hearing impairment can have a "devastating effect" on kids' lives if not detected early on.

"A lot of times, the child might be 2 or 3 before the parents recognize there's a problem," she says.

"(Ontario's universal screening program for babies) is a really important step. The numbers are small, but for the four we catch early, it will make a world of difference for them."

While not mandatory, this test is now offered free to the parents of every newborn.
Babies are divided into two groups for testing -- normal, and higher-risk (due to a family history of hearing impairment, early birth, low weight, head trauma, etc.).
A small earphone is placed in the baby's ear, and soft sounds are played through it. Immediately, the baby receives either an 'e-pass', or 'e-refer' result. Those with an e-refer result are followed up in the community with additional hearing tests, support, and intervention as needed.

The Ministry of Health supplies the funding for this test, but it was left up to individual hospitals to develop their own implementation programs. And while Trillium has hired more nurses to virtually ensure daily screening (for the approximately 4,100 babies born there each year), some hospitals have asked existing staff to absorb this additional workload, or are only testing five days per week.

This screening program is backed up by a strong educational campaign. Trillium is spreading the word amongst the local medical community, and at prenatal classes -- and the province offers an informational video for parents in 13 different languages. If infants weren't tested while being born at Trillium, they can now be referred to community clinics for testing.

Erinoak (Serving Young People With Physical Disabilities), and Peel Preschool Speech and Language Services are the coordinating agencies for the central-west cluster of this testing program, which includes all of Peel-Halton, right out to Kitchener and Cambridge.

"That's a very large area to respond to. (And), I think we're ahead of some of the other Regions," Gildner adds.
 

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