Parental awareness of childhood hearing loss, risk factors and communication milestones following newborn hearing screening

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood hearing loss doubles from newborn period to school age. Parental concern and developmental checklists are often used to flag potential hearing loss after newborn screening, but parental concern alone is a poor indicator. This study explored parental awareness of childhood hearing loss, communication milestones, and risk factors, and particularly whether this knowledge was gained during the newborn period. METHODS: A digital survey was anonymously completed by parents of children under 2 years old living in Sweden. RESULTS: While 98% of parents were aware of the impact of hearing loss on language development, only 56% recalled receiving information about early detection during newborn screening. Most parents (70%) believed a child could still have hearing loss despite passing the screening. This belief was less common among parents with lower education or who did not speak Swedish at home. Parents often underestimated the age at which children reach communication milestones, and 74% reported not considering hearing loss when their child failed to respond to a direction. CONCLUSIONS: Parents demonstrated high overall awareness of childhood hearing loss. However, whether information was provided during newborn screening was inconsistent. The limited sensitivity of parental concern in detecting hearing loss may not stem from a lack of knowledge, but rather from the fact that parents often do not consider hearing loss as a possible explanation when their child does not respond in everyday situations.