Maternal anxiety after Newborn Hearing Screening in Japan

Abstract

Maternal anxiety has been considered as a possible disadvantage of Newborn Hearing Screening (NHS). We reviewed the results of an interview survey conducted by public-health nurses (PHN) during initial home visits performed as part of the Okayama Prefecture NHS Program. The questionnaires assessed maternal anxiety, worry, certainty about the babies' hearing, and maternal attitude toward hearing screening. In total, 47, 346 newborns underwent NHS in Okayama Prefecture, and 248 babies were referred for further evaluation, One hundred seventy-one interviews were available for review in this study. Thirtynine (22.8%) mothers complained of anxiety or worry during the home visit by the PHN. Nineteen cases (11.1%) were diagnosed as having additional handicaps, and the major causes of maternal anxiety in these cases were severer disabilities other than hearing impairment. Sixteen cases (9.4%) were in the process of coping with a confirmed or potential diagnosis of hearing impairment. Only 4 cases (2.3%) demonstrated unexpected anxiety because of a suspicion of hemilateral hearing impairment. Child-neglect was observed in one case with multiple anomalies. Although the incidence of maternal anxiety after NHS was not high, compared with maternal anxiety in the absence of NHS, efforts to minimize maternal anxiety and worry, especially of mothers whose infants are referred for further evaluation, will be indispensable to establishing workable NHS programs in Japan.