New Findings from Medical University Describe Advances in Hearing Loss [Effectiveness and costs of a low-threshold hearing screening programme (HorGeist) for individuals with intellectual disabilities: protocol for a screening study]: Hearing Diseases and Conditions – Hearing Loss

2023 JUN 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on hearing loss is the subject of a new report. According to news originating from Vienna, Austria, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) often suffer from hearing loss, in most cases undiagnosed or inappropriately treated. The implementation of a programme of systematic hearing screening, diagnostics, therapy initiation or allocation and long-term monitoring within the living environments of individuals with ID (nurseries, schools, workshops, homes), therefore, seems beneficial.”

Financial supporters for this research include German Innovation Fund of Germany’s Federal Joint Committee.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Medical University: “Methods and analysis The study aims to assess the effectiveness and costs of a low-threshold screening programme for individuals with ID. Within this programme 1050 individuals with ID of all ages will undergo hearing screening and an immediate reference diagnosis in their living environment (outreach cohort). The recruitment of participants in the outreach group will take place within 158 institutions, for example, schools, kindergartens and places of living or work. If an individual fails the screening assessment, subsequent full audiometric diagnostics will follow and, if hearing loss is confirmed, initiation of therapy or referral to and monitoring of such therapy. A control cohort of 141 participants will receive an invitation from their health insurance provider via their family for the same procedure but within a clinic (clinical cohort). A second screening measurement will be performed with both cohorts 1 year later and the previous therapy outcome will be checked. It is hypothesised that this programme leads to a relevant reduction in the number of untreated or inadequately treated cases of hearing loss and strengthens the communication skills of the newly or better-treated individuals. Secondary outcomes include the age-dependent prevalence of hearing loss in individuals with ID, the costs associated with this programme, cost of illness before-and-after enrolment and modelling of the programme’s cost-effectiveness compared with regular care. Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board of the Medical Association of Westphalia-Lippe and the University of Munster (No. 2020-843 f-S). Participants or guardians will provide written informed consent.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Findings will be disseminated through presentations, peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Trial registration number DRKS00024804.”

For more information on this research see: Effectiveness and costs of a low-threshold hearing screening programme (HorGeist) for individuals with intellectual disabilities: protocol for a screening study. BMJ Open, 2023,13(5). (BMJ Open - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/). The publisher for BMJ Open is BMJ Publishing Group.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070259.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Werner Brannath, Core Unit for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Medical University, Vienna, Austria. Additional authors for this research include Anja Neumann, Katharina Schwarze, Philipp Mathmann, Karolin Schafer, Phillip-Hendrik Hohne, Sibel Altin, Lukas Prein, Awa Naghipour, Susanna Marie Zielonkowski, Susanne Wasmuth, Oliver Kanaan, Antoinette am Zehnhoff-Dinnesen, Anna Sophia Schwalen, Anna Schotenrohr, Martin Scharpenberg, Sarah Schlierenkamp, Nicole Stuhrmann, Ruth Lang-Roth, Muhittin Demir, Sandra Diekmann, Corinna Gietmann, Katrin Neumann.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)