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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Otolaryngology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1464697
This article is part of the Research Topic Pediatric Audiology and Otology View all articles

Parental Knowledge and Satisfaction with Newborn Hearing Screening in Saudi Arabia

Provisionally accepted
Noura I. Alothman Noura I. Alothman 1*Ahmad A. Alanazi Ahmad A. Alanazi 2,3Sadeem S. Alshenaifi Sadeem S. Alshenaifi 1Yara Alhadhban Yara Alhadhban 1Salma A. Alateeq Salma A. Alateeq 1Norah Alhwaimel Norah Alhwaimel 1Nouf Dolgum Nouf Dolgum 1
  • 1 Department of Health Communication Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 3 King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: Parental knowledge and satisfaction are critical for evaluating the newborn hearing screening (NHS) program. No studies have assessed both parental knowledge and satisfaction with the NHS program since its launch in Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to evaluate parents' knowledge and satisfaction with the NHS program in Saudi Arabia.Methods: This study included parents of children aged 3 years or younger who had undergone NHS. A questionnaire with 23 questions in Arabic assessed knowledge and satisfaction. Knowledge-related questions were developed by a focus group, while satisfaction-related questions were derived from the Parent Satisfaction Questionnaire with a Neonatal Hearing Screening Program.Results: A total of 796 parents participated. Overall, 92.8% reported that their newborns passed the screening, 1.6% reported that their newborns failed, and 5% were unaware of the NHS results. About 0.6% did not return for follow-up appointments due to unawareness of the need for follow-up. Only 29.6% received information about the NHS before the screening, and 44.7% reported receiving sufficient information about the results. Most parents (80.2%) were generally satisfied with the NHS program.Conclusions: Parents in this study were generally knowledgeable and satisfied with the NHS program. However, efforts are needed to improve the NHS program's effectiveness by increasing awareness and providing sufficient information on the necessity of NHS, test results, and follow-up appointments.

    Keywords: Hearing screening, newborns, knowledge, Satisfaction, questionnaire, Saudi Arabia

    Received: 14 Jul 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Alothman, Alanazi, Alshenaifi, Alhadhban, Alateeq, Alhwaimel and Dolgum. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Noura I. Alothman, Department of Health Communication Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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