Emad Salawati

Hearing impairment is a prevalent disabling condition among children; all newborns should undergo a universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS). Unfortunately, many newborns who fail the screening test are lost to follow-up. Our study aims to evaluate parents’ perceptions of UNHS and to identify predictors for newborn hearing screening recall in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study involving Saudi parents with 0-to-18-year-old children born in Saudi Arabia was conducted. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used to describe the participants’ characteristics and to identify UNHS recall predictors. A total of 1533 parents were surveyed. Overall, 29.9% of them recalled a hearing screening at birth, while 22.2% reported no hearing screening, and 47.8% were unable to remember. Only (6.9%) participants reported a failed hearing screening, of which 75.9% recalled a follow-up recommendation. Females, parents aged 30–34 years, consanguineous parents, and parents of newborns who were treated with antibiotics were more likely to recall hearing screening compared to others. This study highlights inadequate awareness of UNHS among parents. Our findings support the need to improve the reporting system of UNHS results and implement educational programs to increase parents’ recall of hearing test results and ensure early follow-ups for neonates with failed test results.