The views of parents of hearing impaired children on the need for neonatal hearing screening.

Much research is now being undertaken into the implementation of universal neonatal hearing screens, but consumer opinion about such screening has not been widely available. The opinions of the parents of 356 children and young adults, with varying degrees of permanent hearing impairment were sought for the current study. They were questioned about their satisfaction with the age at which the hearing impairment was confirmed to be present in their child. Of 208 responses, only 58 were reasonably satisfied with the age at which their child's impairment had been confirmed. They were also asked whether they would have wanted a neonatal hearing screen had it been available. The overwhelming majority (166) would have welcomed such a test. This opinion was shared by the parents, even when their child had a mild or unilateral impairment. Parental comments about the advantages and disadvantages of neonatal screening are discussed.